


The Demon Bond II

by ValentineDevil



Series: The Demon Bond [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Demons, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Bonding, Demon Bucky Barnes, Demons, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Hair-pulling, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Praise Kink, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Sexual Content, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, sort of....
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-06-01 01:46:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 85,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15132398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValentineDevil/pseuds/ValentineDevil
Summary: Sequel to The Demon Bond.





	1. Love Transcends Death. Always, and Eternally

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so, so much for choosing to read the sequel to The Demon Bond! I'm extremely excited for this next instalment in the series and I hope you all are, too! I recommend reading The Origin of Shadows (the prequel) as certain parts of Bucky's past will not be mentioned in this sequel... Having said that, if anything, reading the sixth chapter of TOoS will fill in some gaps from Steve's death, to when he reawakens and finds Bucky again. So, basically, if you want to have more knowledge than Steve, go read it, if you would like to (it's not necessary!). Otherwise you may wait awhile in the sequel to find out some secrets...
> 
> And, I just wanted to say, this series honestly wouldn't be here without you guys. I am honoured to have such great readers and your support in this little universe of mine means the world to me. Thank you <3

Darkness.

Complete and utter darkness.

It's everywhere as far as the eye can see, with such density as if there's never been a light to disrupt the shadows.

There's no pain. The darkness is just _there._ It's disorientating, dizzying even, but that doesn't make Steve feel vulnerable.

His pale hands are no longer ruby and sticky with his own blood. Instead, he can feel a tickling warmth running over his knuckles, and a softness under his palm.

Gradually, a fleck of white appears amongst the shadows. Growing like an orb that splits the darkness in two as it expands. Then suddenly, the light silently explodes, like a sheet of snow covering the expanse of his vision. He can't see anything as his eyes adjust to the serene brightness.

_Is he in heaven?_

No, he feels too _alive._

His sight blurred, he can only just identify patches of green surrounding his peripheral edges.  A sensation of giddiness makes Steve blink several times to centre himself under the slate of blue that dominates his vision more than the emerald hue. It's as if he's looking right at a clouded ocean, and yet the silkiness under his head has him disorientated, unfocused. But his breaths come easily to him, as if his lungs are no longer being constricted by some thick-muscled snake.

A gentle coolness caresses across his face and forearms, forcing the ends of golden locks into his eyes. But with that, Steve can finally begin to perceive the shapes around him. He can make out each individual blade of grass that reach far above him. If he were to stand, they would surely tickle the very tops of his thighs and the sharpness of his hipbones. The blue above him does not belong to an ocean, but to a sky not shrouded by even the faintest of soft clouds or grey smoke. And in that sky... _oh, its breath-taking..._

Straining to sit up, he finds himself staring up at three moon-like structures: one a deep, metallic looking grey, one a more vibrant lilac, and the other a captivating orange. Then, what seems to be the main light-source over the land below the moons in the sky, is a yellow orb embedded with swirls of pink. The shining sphere rests above the tall peeks of snow-capped mountains in the extreme distance.

Moving his gaze to his sides, the edges of the grassy hill he has found himself on appears more as a clearing, for enormous trees line the perimeter of all that he can see. The twisted forest contains leaves of reds, golds and greens that gleam like crystals. Forcing himself to a wobbled stand, directly in front of him, Steve can see how the tree line breaks apart as the grassy slope continues. It allows him to see the massive, ethereal blue lake at the bottom of the mountains.

 _It's not a dream._ Even with how surreal it all is, for Steve feels more alive than he has ever felt. As if some immense energy is fizzing in each and every one of his cells.

Steve abruptly turns at the sound of the grass shifting apart behind him, his breathes becoming more uneven. A tall figure is walking ever so closer to him. Brown hair frames his face down to the chiselled jawline dotted with stubble. Those broad muscles are framed by black-feathered wings that drape through the grass with every step. Clad only in dark jeans, the demon wanders nearer with silver-flecked eyes that have locked with Steve's own.

And when Bucky smiles... Steve knows it is not a dream. He's chest is instantly filled with an overwhelming affection- an eternal love for the demon.  

His soul may be wrapped in darkness, but he is very much _alive._

Though shocked, Steve yearns for no more, and no less than to bury himself in Bucky's arms. Especially with that devilish smirk lining those lips, Steve feels so very safe in the demon's presence, and he cannot help but smile back in nothing but happiness.

“I promised you, my little warrior... that I would never let you go.”

Steve runs to him. Or rather, he attempts to on legs so unsteady, that his knees give way before he can take more than a few steps. But luckily for him, he falls into Bucky's warm, open arms. Pressed against the demon's bare chest, wrapped in the strong embrace he's never once stopped yearning for, a broken sob leaves his throat.

_“Bu-cky.”_

“Shh, I'm here,” the dark class soothes him, metallic fingers carding through silky, golden strands. Bucky's other hand pulls at the small of the cadet's back, supporting the young man who leans up onto the balls of his feet. “You don't need to cry.”

“Bucky,” Steve repeats, his tears shiny upon the demon's skin as he presses his face into the crook of Bucky's neck. His hands are looped tightly around the demon's shoulders, neither of them noticing the fingernails dipping into muscular flesh above coarse feathers. “I thought...” _I would never see you again._

“It's okay now, I've got you, Steve,” the demon whispers, leaving the most tentative of kisses atop the smaller man's head, before closing his eyes to relish in his sweet, familiar scent. The world around them is quiet... and honestly... rather beautiful. Steve doesn't have to ask, to know that they are in the Netherworld.

It's a while before the blond finds it within himself to pull away from the demon, just enough to look into those silver-flecked irises. They look... exhausted. As if the dark class has been subjected to endless pain. A grief he hadn't ever experienced before. For a moment, Bucky had thought... he thought he had lost his little warrior for eternity. And now, unbeknown to the blond, they are bound together once more.

“Bucky... What happened?”

“You killed the Kyosw,” Bucky says in answer to Steve's quiet query.

“And then? I remember... a little, but it's hazy,” he admits.

The demon is quiet for a prolonged moment. The blond doesn't think he's going to get an answer when Bucky finally speaks up. But, the demon’s voice is… withdrawn. Filled with an immense _guilt._

“You died.”

“I... died?” Steve can't quite stop his frown of confusion. _He couldn't have possibly died... right?_ He's here, Bucky is here. There's no itching pain and yet-

“Yes. I couldn't heal you... the wound was too great,” he confesses regretfully.

The demon can tell that the blond is struggling to process Bucky's words. It's as if he's watching the blond solving a difficult problem, for his features have creased with his confusion. In reality, Steve isn't truly grasping the meaning of the demon's words. They’re spinning around in his mind, blurry with the fierce motion. And then, all at once, it dawns on him. Like the sun finally coming up to bask a silent valley in light.

“How... How long has it been?”

“You died three months ago,” the dark class replies plainly, taking hold of the cadet's upper arms when he sees those blue eyes widen shock. Just like an ocean seemingly growing onto the sandy, rocky shores.

“Three months... Oh my gods... My team...My mother!” Steve exclaims, his feet instinctively moving backwards as his hands clasp over his lips. But the demon holds onto him tightly, urging the blond to listen to him as a sense of panic radiates from the cadet.

“Your team made it out alive. Sam is taking care of her, you don't need to worry.”

“I need to go back to her!”

“Steve, listen to me. You don't understand... You're _dead_. You can't go back to your life in the military... You can't go back to your mother,” the demon pleads, begging for Steve's eyes to find his own. But those blue eyes are clouded in a grey mist that could only ever be described as pure hysteria.

“No! If I'm dead than how can I be... It doesn't make any sense.” The younger man's voice trembles, his breaths uneven and shallow. The instinctive _thump thump thump_ of his heart echoes in Bucky's ears like a siren.

“Steve?” The demon gently calls out to him, concern edging into his voice as the blond clutches his own chest.

“I... I can't breathe.”

“Steve, look at me,” the demon begs, his hold shifting to encircle the younger man’s thin wrists. Gently tugging on them, he beckons for the blond’s attention. “Look at me,” he demands, tone nothing but tender. When those confused eyes finally look up to him for answers, it pains Bucky to find them wet with unreleased tears. The rim of his eyes are already pink from his earlier sobs that threaten to continue. “Shh, it's okay. Calm down-“ The demon isn’t able to get anything else out until the smaller man’s panicked voice interrupts him.

“I'm dead! This shouldn't be possible!” Steve gasps, head beginning to shake frantically, as if that might make his reality easier to comprehend. “How... I don't understand what's happening.”

“I can explain,” Bucky implores, desperately trying to appeal to the cadet’s curious nature. Steve stares up at him, soft lashes damp and lip trembling. The demon hates this expression. He never wants to see such a distraught look upon the cadet’s face ever again. “I... took your soul.... Bound it to me and then...” Bucky is struggling to find the right words, fearing setting the younger man off again with more confusion. “Right now, you are an embodiment of your soul.”

“You did this?” It’s not an accusation, just a softly spoken question as he feels a wave of calm flood through him, channelled through their bond from the demon himself.

“No... The Empress did-”

“Who? You're not making any sense.” _Nothing is making any sense._

“I... It's a long story,” the dark class admits, his hold on the blond loosening. “You must get some rest, it's a lot to process.” The demon tentatively offers his right hand to the smaller man, calloused fingers eager to feel the cadet’s touch once more. “Come with me, there's somewhere we can stay close by.”

Steve is hesitant at first, gazing at the long grass around them as he forces himself to inhale deeply. Holding that breath for a brief moment, the cadet lets it free over parted lips. But the action does little to ease the severe ache within his head. It feels as if something is pressing sharply against the bone beneath his temples. But, when he finally slips his hand into Bucky’s own, that painful throbbing fades into a dull pressure, until it disappears altogether.

“Can you walk?” Bucky asks, concern filling his voice as he notices how the cadet’s legs shake as if on an unsteady boat out at sea. The younger man nods meekly, leaning slightly closer to the demon to wrap himself in the warmth he emits.

Their legs push through the thick grass, forcing a path that quickly closes behind them as if they had never taken a single step through the clearing. Just as they reach the treeline, while Bucky helps the blond over a curving root, he doesn’t notice how the demon’s eyes look back across the clearing into the darkness of the forest.

“You have three moons,” Steve says suddenly.

They had been walking for several minutes up a winding hill of trees, when the cadet’s voice broke through the quiet that had settled between them.

“I guess you could call them moons,” the demon replies, glancing down at the younger man and their fingers that have entwined. They look almost like a couple taking a hike through a vibrant forest, with its leaves highlighting their skin in the same glow that is absorbed by their dark clothing. The blond goes silent again, blue eyes flickering to his surroundings. The demon is a little concerned by his blank expression, but he can also perceive Steve’s dire need to rest and collect his thoughts. The very sensation pulses through the bond that they share. A bond that is still cementing with the shift in their forms. Or rather… Steve’s new form.

“So... I'm dead,” the younger man bluntly utters.

“Your previous body is, yes.” Although his honesty may only add perplexity to the blond’s already bewildered mind, he believes it to be best to just tell Steve from the start. Rip the band-aid off the wound as it were.

“My... This isn't my body?” The very idea seems preposterous. Well, perhaps it would seem that way, if only Steve didn’t feel so… _not in his own skin._ It’s a strange sensation for certain. His body feels almost _hypersensitive._ Even the fabric of his black shirt irritates his skin, despite the material being soft to the touch. Even the tiny particles of dirt beneath his feet as they trudge through the woodland feel like they may slice the skin between his toes.

“It was made for you, by the Empress, as a physical manifestation of your soul...” Bucky drifts off when he catches the smaller male observing him with a puzzled interest. A look that the demon finds suits the blond far better than the expression he had on before. But, still, there is a dullness in the very depths of those blue eyes. Bucky can only hope that it will soon fade. “I was uncertain if your soul contains your memories... I'm relieved that it does.”

“So... I've basically switched bodies... Into a new one... is kind of what you're saying? Like reincarnation?” Steve frowns, casting his stare forward as their journey takes them around the trunk of an enormous tree, with roots bigger than Steve’s thighs and branches going higher than he can see.

“...Yes. I suppose,” Bucky responds faintly.

“So... I'm alive?” Steve huffs, though his frustration is not directed at the dark class, but rather, at the implausible notion of it all.

“This body of yours, your _soul_ , is connected to me. Our energies have become one in this way... You are alive, but,” the demon abruptly pauses his words. There’s no other way to put it really, and so, letting out a sigh, he continues. “It won't be the same.”

“What do you mean?” The younger man questions.

“The Empress says there may be some adjustments you will have to get used to.”

“Adjustments?” There’s that name again; one that the blond doesn’t understand. At least, not yet. But when he is ready, Bucky will tell him _everything_.

“You no longer need to eat or drink,” the demon reveals, attempting to gage the younger man’s reactions. “Nor do you truly need to sleep. For your body absorbs my own energy to survive using our connection. It doesn't take my power, but... It's a part of you. We are tied together far more than before... It's hard to explain.”

“Just like a bond, then?” Steve murmurs. So quietly, that the demon almost didn’t hear him amongst the crackling of fallen leaves under their bare feet.

“Yes, my little warrior.” Bucky smiles softly. “A bond”

“So if you die... I would die... again?” The blond predicts, though it seems ludicrous, really.

“Yes, your soul would be lost. Your body would decay, and your soul would leave it,” the dark class replies plainly. He doesn’t want to think of Steve ever leaving him again. Just the mere thought makes him feel sick, forcing a sharp pain to work its way into his broad chest.

“And what happens if someone tries to kill me?”

Bucky has to supress a growl at those words. He’s tempted not to answer at all except from to say, _‘I will never let that happen again’,_ but he long ago silently promised himself to answer all of the blond’s queries. He owes him that much after all that they have been through.

“You would heal.”

“Even if they ripped out my heart?” Steve is uncertain of that, but then the demon is quickly rewriting his way of thinking with just one, simple word.

“Yes.”

The pair is silent after that. While one of them processes new information, the other is merely basking in the other’s presence after so long of being apart. Was is truly three months ago that Steve died? For the blond, it’s as if seconds have passed, but for the demon, it’s as if _years_ have gone by.

After a while, they reach the silver rocks below a peaceful waterfall, the serene liquid leading up into the mouth of a darkened cave. The demon stops so suddenly, that the cadet knocks forcefully against his muscular side, his own steps faltering as he looks up at the dark class.

“I meant what I said to you,” the fiend declares, silver-flecked eyes fixed firmly on the cascading water.

“Hm?” Steve’s blond brows furrow, unsure what exactly Bucky is referring to. But what the demon says…

“That... I love you.”

…He didn’t realise how much he needed to hear those words. And it’s then that Steve realises just how the two of them had parted. _Gods… he doesn’t want a fight like that with Bucky again._ Doesn’t want to say _I love you, too,_ just as death comes knocking.

“I'm sorry how I acted... I just don't fully understand what your intentions were with me,” Steve admits, even though he finds it difficult to grasp. And he may continue to not quite understand for a long time. However, what he felt and _feels_ through their bond has him certain of one thing. “But I know that they've changed. I know you love me, and I... I forgive you.”

Bucky finally turns to face the younger man, the silver of his eyes glistening as he murmurs softly.

_“Thank you.”_

Steve smiles, for it’s as if some sort of mist has cleared between them. Changing from something that was rather raw and woven with darkness, to something smooth as the light begins to shine upon it. As if a new path has been carved, and now there’s nothing to do except walk it together.

“Only because-“ Steve removes his fingers from the demon’s own, placing his hands upon the taut skin of Bucky’s chest as his voice softens, gaze lowering. “-I love you, too.” The blond’s pale cheeks pinken in a dusted blush that only aids in coercing Bucky’s smile to become wider.

Leaning closer to the cadet, Bucky’s metallic arm slides down the length of the blond’s arm, forcing the tiny hairs to raise as goose-bumps settle over his skin. Silver arm looping around the younger man’s slim waist, his other hand drifts up to rest his index finger under the blond’s chin, gently lifting those blue eyes up to meet his own. There’s a brief pause where neither of them moves, but merely gaze into the other’s eyes. Then, ever so slowly, the demon leans in, and dark lashes draw together as their lips meet in a tender kiss. Just a brush of pink skin, and yet that sweet press conveys everything that has already been said between them.

It is the blond who pulls his tingling lips a fraction away in search of silver-flecked orbs. His words are spoken quietly, softly and almost breathlessly. But the demon’s reply is whispered in the very same way.

“But you still have a lot of explaining to do, okay?”

“Okay, my little warrior.”

“Watch your step,” Bucky warns as he guides the younger man along the worn path running the length of the stream that rests inside the cave. The blond’s eyes quickly adjust to the darkness as the echo of the waterfall behind them gradually recedes.

“Where exactly are we going?”

“Somewhere safe,” the dark class assures him. “It’s not far now, I promise.”

“I swear if we’re going to be living in a damp cave-“

“Here,” Bucky interrupts, his legs halting their movements as his metallic palm presses against the side of a large slab of stone. Pressed up against the wall of the cave, the dark stone reaches just above Bucky’s height, and is only a few inches wider than the broad stretch of his shoulders.

Steve watches the dark class with intrigue as the stone easily begins to shift under the contraction and push of the demon’s muscles. When the grinding vibration of the rock’s movements finally come to a stop, Bucky moves to the side to reveal a pitch-black tunnel. Taking a step forward to peer into the darkness, the blond immediately shakes his head when he realises the demon wants him to enter.

“No way. Not happening,” he refuses, arms folding across his chest in an act of defiance. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Bucky… he just doesn’t trust the shadows. Or rather, what may lie waiting within it. The last time darkness surrounded him, the cadet had _died._ And despite the fact that he knows the death class is well and truly gone, there’s a nagging doubt in his chest that makes him cautious.

“I’ve spent many years inside of here undisturbed. There hasn’t been another demon apart from myself in this cave for a long time… It’s safe,” Bucky responds, as if sensing the cadet’s anxious thoughts. Still, the blond gnaws at his bottom lip until the mere action forces him to let the sensitive flesh go.

“Okay,” the smaller man sighs reluctantly. With a strong, gentle hand against his lower back, Steve treads warily into the blanket of darkness. The sound of the stone door being slotted into place vibrates under his feet as blue eyes find it impossible to make out any shapes in front of him. “How far do I need to go?”

“You’ll know when we reach it.”

And he does. The exact moment the cold, stone ground turns into warm, silky fur against his toes, a squeal immediately escapes the blond’s throat. Jolting back in surprise, his form hits the demon’s chest rather forcefully as those muscular arms drift to entangle around the younger man’s waist. A warmth ghosts his ear as the fiend lets out a low, amused chuckle.

“Easy there… Just wait here one moment,” Bucky instructs, removing his hold entirely from the blond who calls out to him with uncertainty.

“Bucky? Where are you going?” Steve can feel his heart beginning to _thud thud thud_ as he listens to the shuffle of the demon’s feet and the draping of heavy wings in front of him. Getting further away until-

Steve gasps, eyes creasing against the light of the vibrant, purple fire. It hovers in a little niche embedded into the wall of the stone chamber. Pulsing in-line with the demon’s temple, the fiend proceeds to light up six other alcoves to illuminate the chamber entirely. Circular, the room is somewhat spacious, large enough for the demon to spread his wings and move around without a fear of his feathers pressing against the stone walls. Blue eyes drop to inspect the floor, half of which is covered in rich, soft pelts. The kind you would expect to have been literally skinned from animals, and yet, the very idea confuses him. For the furs are like nothing Steve has ever seen before.

Some of them are crimson red, as if they had been bathed in fresh blood, while others are a darker, moss-like green. Some of the pelts are thick with straight hairs, some curly as if they had been twisted around fingers, and some are short, but just as velvety as the rest of them.

“Where did you get the furs from?” Steve asks, glancing from the neatly-placed pelts to the demon who wanders back to him.

“I can show you.”

“Show me?” A sleek, blond brow raises in disbelief.

“Tomorrow.” Bucky smirks, tenderly taking the blond’s fingers into his hands to lead him over to the soft bed. “We’ll rest for now.”

“I still have so many questions,” the blond says despondently, even as he allows himself to be guided down onto the very centre of the furs.

The demon hums in reply, sitting down with the cadet so that his chest presses firmly against the smaller man’s side. After a moment, Steve finds himself leaning into the touch, resting his head upon Bucky’s shoulder as if to encourage him to come closer. Blue orbs flickering shut, the demon’s arms wrap around the cadet, gradually shifting them until they lay on the furs in a warm embrace enclosed by shiny feathers.

Only a few minutes pass by when the demon perceives the soft snores emitting from cadet. Despite the younger man not _needing_ to breath, it’s an innate action that gives them both a sense of… _normality._

Because, even if they try to deny it, everything has changed.

Except, perhaps, for one thing only. A certain emotion that flows through their bond… It is an emotion that remains undying, even in death.

A sleepy groan slips past the blond’s parted lips, eyes firmly screwed shut as his mind comes away from blank dreams. It is then that he registers a softness against his neck, then a heated breath between every gentle press along the side of his throat. The cadet can only let out a breathy laugh as the demon nuzzles the golden strands that wrap around his ear, kissing the bare skin behind it. Everywhere the fiend’s lips touch, causes a tingling underneath his skin that is far from unpleasant. That very sensation floods right down his spine, akin to a shiver that pools a gentle warmth into his chest. A pool that only grows further into a lake with every touch.

“Mm, you enjoying yourself there?” Steve murmurs, not quite able to rid the small smile etched onto his mouth. The demon stills, but the blond can feel the slant of those lips against his skin. The younger man gasps suddenly, blue orbs revealing themselves as Bucky nips his earlobe, simultaneously shifting impossibly closer along the younger man’s back.

Turning his head to cast his gaze upon the teasing demon, the blond’s cheerful expression falls as soon as he sees the desperate, mournful look written upon Bucky’s face. Steve opens his mouth to ask what’s wrong, but the demon is the first to speak.

“I missed you.”

The blond smiles softly, for he cannot truly understand the emotions that tormented the demon in the three months it took for them to become reunited. But, he does grasp a fraction of what it would be like to live without himself wrapped up in shadows. He can’t possibly imagine his existence without Bucky. Not through all that they have experienced together. However, he knows of the sensations that would surely rip through his very being. And with those unwavering emotions of grief and longing, it certainly wouldn’t be a life Steve could see as worth living. Too much has changed. The blond loves his mother deeply, but the loss of one’s… perhaps _soulmate_ isn’t the right term… but the loss of one’s only intimate love can often be too much to bear the weight of.

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” Steve comforts, slender fingertips reaching out to cup the side of the demon’s chiselled jawline. Bucky leans into the touch, silver-flecked eyes drifting shut as he soaks in the younger man’s presence and the bond that vibrates in tiny, purring waves between them. The smaller man can perceive the demon’s hum of agreement against his flesh as the pad of his thumb smooths over Bucky’s cheekbone. “You have my soul, I’m not planning on going anywhere… I don’t want to leave your side. Not ever,” the blond proclaims. “So, I hope you’re ready for me. Otherwise you’re gonna get fed up with my questions pretty darn quickly.”

The demon chuckles lowly in response, his grin matching the younger man’s.

“Oh, I’m ready.”

A moment of bliss settles in the warm chamber, washing over their forms and soothing the stress that had gathered in their cells. Their troubles seem so far away, but it doesn’t take long until they work their way back into the shadows of the bonded pair’s flesh. There’s still a lot left for Steve to process- and an awful lot he is still yet to know. The reality that his mother believes him to be dead is such a strange concept to mull over. Steve yearns for nothing more than to find her, wrap himself in her loving embrace, and tell her that everything is okay; that he’s alive and has Bucky to take care of him. But he knows that (as much as he hates to admit it) he cannot possibly do such a thing. If the demon says that he’s not able to see his mother then, with the knowledge that Sam is taking care of her, the blond needs to learn to accept that.

Although it’s perhaps foolish to trust the creature of darkness, Steve knows that Bucky doesn’t want to hurt him in any way. Despite the fact that he has in the past, the cadet understands that it was not his intention to do so. Bucky learned from his mistakes, and now the younger man must give both his trust, and blossomed love to the demon in the form of true forgiveness. There’s no need for stubbornness in such things where Bucky is concerned, otherwise, their bond may well suffer and rupture with the angered tension.

“It’s such a strange feeling,” Steve whispers, shuffling in the demon’s embrace to sit up with his legs neatly crossed.

“What is?” Bucky frowns, angling his arm to prop his head up to be able to observe the blond’s features intently, knuckles resting beside his ear. Dark wings flutter into a more comfortable position against the demon’s back, forcing a gentle breeze to caress the pale flesh of Steve’s arms. Although neither of them say anything about it, Bucky notices how the draft causes a silent shiver to run through the cadet.

“This body… I don’t feel tired, uh, physically, that is. Nor do I feel any hunger or thirst. And yet at the same time, I don’t feel… _sated._ Like, there’s not even a scale.” The younger man cringes at his words, cocking his head to stare back at the demon. “Does that even make any sense?”

“It makes perfect sense, my little warrior,” the dark class assures him. The blond, however, does not look convinced. Lacking any comforting words (for there are none in any language in either realm that could possibly soothe the cadet’s worries) the demon makes a suggestion instead in the hopes of taking Steve’s mind off of more… _complex_ things. “Why don’t I take you out to show you where I got the hydsz from? We won’t need to go too far.”

“Haae-de-seez? You mean the furs?”

“Yes.” Bucky faintly nods his head, heaving his form up from the silk of the pelts to come to a stand. The demon can feel blue eyes upon the expanse of his chest as the taut muscles ripple with the effortless movement. “Come, we’ll set off now if you’re ready.” The demon offers his hands out for the cadet to grasp.

It takes (unsurprisingly) very little effort to convince the younger man to venture outside of the darkness of the cave into the vibrancy of the day. Steve wonders how long he slept for, but he quickly realises that it doesn’t matter. It’s not as if they’re on some sort of perfectly constructed schedule. It’s almost… _nice._ Just being able to do things at their own pace without worrying about having to get anything done before a certain time. It’s odd when the cadet is so used to the routine of the academy, and yet he doubts that he can become bored with serenity when there’s still so much of the realm to explore.

“How long do demons live for?” Steve asks as the bonded pair travel down a turquoise stream.

“Usually until they are killed,” the dark class replies plainly.

“And what if they are never killed?”

“We do not die of old age if that is what you are asking.”

“It is…” The cadet drifts off, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth in contemplation. Blue eyes stare at the water in awe, before switching back to where his eyes had been gazing at the demon’s defined back and the wings that drape across it like a cloak. “If you’re more than eight-hundred years old, how old was the Kyosw when I-“

“Schmidt was thousands of years old when you killed him,” Bucky interjects. Steve falls quiet once again, thinking over the demon’s confession before he perceives the other’s voice resounding in the forest once more. “The Empress, however, is supposed to be ancient. It is said that she was alive when the realms came into existent.”

“You don’t believe that?” Steve finds it difficult to think it true himself.

“I- ah, we’re here.” The fiend grins wickedly, his excitement intermixing with the cadet’s own along the throbbing of their bond. “Keep quiet,” Bucky murmurs softly, turning around to take the blond’s hand into his own. Their fingers entwined, the demon leads them to the very edge of a small, shimmering clearing. The open space is swimming with bronze-dusted flowers, reminding Steve of when one looks into a frequented wishing well. But it is not the strange, tangling plants that catch the blond’s attention.

He doesn’t see it at first, but a slight movement in the clearing has blue eyes widening in shock, and in awe of the creature that stares right back at them…


	2. Hold Me With Your Shadows. Embrace Me With Your Love

“We call them _kukilu._ ”

The being in question, is extraordinary. Laying down in the patch of entwining plants, their mossy pelt seemingly camouflages themselves in the vines. Steve could only describe their structure as being deer-like. But the elegance of their body is where the similarities end. The creature stands up gracefully, and Steve is instantly mesmerised by their sheer size. The kukilu is even taller than Bucky with the top of their head reaching almost three metres. Its tail reminds Steve of a leopard’s, swishing along the entire length of the creature before dragging along the ground behind it. Bronze flowers adorn their horns that look like the tangled branches of a leafless tree, the petals dangling down like hanging baskets to the long muzzled that ends in a wide, shiny, wet nose. On either side of their head, are two almond-shaped, twitching ears. Its eyes are a pure white, as if the pupil had been plucked from them, pulling out the irises of each of its three orbs. One of either side of its slim head, then another in the centre of its temple. Steve doubts that the creature has any blind spots, though he’s unsure of exactly what beings would try to hunt it. Though the pelts back at the cave are an obvious clue.

However, an awe-stricken gasp soon slips past plump lips. At first Steve assumes he must be wrong, but a quick, questioning look at the demon who watches him with a smile has his suspicions instantly confirmed. For the deer-like being, has not one curious head, but _two_ that stems from its muscled shoulders. Only when the kukilu moves a few paces, does the blond finally perceive the second one with shorter, crimson fur as it follows the first one, its long legs shuffling effortlessly against the bed of vines under its pointed hooves. Although they do not seem alarmed by the presence of the bonded pair, they still continue to move until their magnificent forms are concealed by the trees at the far side of the clearing.

“I thought…” Steve begins quietly, sheer bewilderment making it hard to find the right words.

“Demons are not the only beings in this realm,” Bucky states simply, a pleased looked plastered onto his features. For the cadet looks genuinely _happy,_ and the demon can’t help but feel self-satisfaction at having put the blond into such a state.

“Are there creatures other than the kukilu?” The younger man isn’t sure how he can even begin to process the eerie yet beautiful creatures they just saw, let alone if there are other species for him to gain awareness of. But the demon had once confessed that the Netherworld is seemingly endless, and right now, the cadet has never doubted those words less.

“Yes.” The demon lowers his head in a faint nod, as if for a moment there he had been unsure of whether to reveal such information to the blond. Settling on the ground with the younger man, he continues. “I will show you some another time.”

“Only some?” Steve’s lips purse in a child-like manner, being told that he can’t have something he wants.

“Only some are placid and peaceful. I won’t risk any of the others harming you,” the demon replies firmly. It wasn’t up for discussion. But that doesn’t mean that the cadet won’t pester the dark class about it.

“I can’t die, Bucky.”

“I know that, my little warrior,” the fiends sighs, lacking any sort of argument.

“You don’t need to worry about protecting me.” Steve places a palm upon the muscle of the demon’s upper arm, feeling the warmth pooling into his fingertips. The touch has silver-flecked orbs gazing sincerely into blue depths.

“I will always want to protect you. Always. Nothing can change this.”

“Bucky…” The blond coos, a dusting of a blush blossoming on his cheeks. “Such a romantic. And so stubborn,” he laughs fondly at the end, smile widening into a grin.

“Like someone I know.” Bucky chuckles along with him, the pair basking in this closeness, their worries… an entire realm away. “You will ask me to show you all that this realm has to offer again, won’t you.” It’s certainly not a question- the demon knows the younger man and his curious nature far too well.

“I want to see every fraction of this world, Bucky,” the blond says seriously, his other hand planting in the very centre of the demon’s taut chest. “It’s where you come from. I want to know the realm where you grew up. And where we shall continue to live.”

“Thank you,” the dark class whispers. Steve almost didn’t hear him, and certainly wouldn’t have done if they weren’t so close together, their auras mixing tentatively into an amber-spotted mass.

“What on earth for?” The blond frowns as the demon stares at where their legs lightly touch, refusing to meet those wondering eyes.

“For not rejecting me.”

“Oh, Bucky.” Steve’s eyes well with tears that catch in dark lashes like rain upon a silk web. Cupping the fiend’s stubbled jaw, the blond coerces him forward to press their lips together in a chaste kiss. After just a moment, Steve can feel Bucky pushing into the caress, faintly parting his lips until the cadet does the same. A content moan echoes up the blond’s unblemished throat, slender fingers reaching up to tangle in dark locks. It’s a slow, leisurely kiss. Perhaps a little forceful with untamed yearning for the other, but in the end, though slightly giddy, their actions remain somewhat innocent. There’s no need to rush. No need to fear getting caught and reprimanded. They can take their time now; for it is love, and not lust that binds them together.

The bonded pair sit beside the clearing until the fiery star above them sets behind the mountains to give way to the beauty of the night. More kukilu came and went, each observing the two beings pressed against the other, their sides practically glued as they each take comfort in the other’s grounding presence. Every tranquil creature brings light into blue irises, capturing them with wonder. Yet silver-flecked orbs never once leave the blond’s smiling face. As soon as the sky became tainted with darkness, Steve finds himself peering up through the tree canopy to perceive the moons that seem more vibrant than surely possible, even with the radiance of the leaves around them.

Gaze returning to the slight rustle of a kukilu ambling through the clearing, the blue of Steve’s irises turn almost white with the reflection of thousands of flowers that illuminate the clearing. The once bronze petals have transformed to a sparking white, glistening like a sea of stars laid out before them. The kukilu is a dark mass in the glade, like a passing shadow or an inky cloud across a striking sky. And when the creature looks up, a few flowers falling loose from their horns, Steve gasps as he watches those circular orbs glow brightly. Such light emits from them, that the white almost seems tinted with an icy blue. It’s like those three eyes of each head contain a glacier within their shine. None of it quite seems tangible, but the demon’s warmth pressing into him and the wing wrapped around him are most definitely real.

“Is everything within the realm this beautiful?” Steve whispers as he watches the latest herd of kukilu pass through as gracefully and quietly as they had arrived.

“I can only see one beautiful thing,” the demon murmurs in reply, drawing the cadet’s attention to him.

“Oh? And what is that?” The blond breaths out, suppressing the giggling that threatens to erupt.

“I think you know whom I am referring to…” Bucky leans closer with that devilish smirk of his, gently bumping the tips of their noses together. Steve can feel the demon’s warm breath ghost across his skin, setting off little sparks beneath the surface that cascade to pool at his stomach. After a brief peck of lips, the bonded pair return to resting against each other. Golden strands brush against the demon’s bare shoulder, tickling the skin as the dark class rests his chin atop the younger man’s head. There’s this nagging feeling of wanting to become impossibly closer, though neither of them voice the thought. They don’t need to- the very sensation vibrates down their bond. A bond that has cemented, like a thick tether tying their very cores togehter.

They could never have this back at the academy. To be in each other’s arms, out in the open without the need to be discreet with their affections. The demon doesn’t have to stretch out invisible shadows to sense for anyone coming closer, instead, he can wholly relax without the worry of some being disturbing them. The creatures that do come near, are far from judgemental and far prefer minding their business than meddling with theirs. There’s no one around with the potential to tear them apart. And it’s… _freeing._

It’s some time later when Bucky nudges the blond out of his trance with a touch of metal upon the fabric that covers one slender thigh. Blue orbs look up at the fiend, questions filling those stubborn depths.

“Come, let us return.” With a light tap upon the cadet’s hip, Bucky gestures for the smaller man to stand up, before helping him do just that.

“Ah, okay… I can’t believe we’ve been out here for so long.” Steve giggles softly; the distraction had been well needed. And although Steve feels neither cold, hungry or tired, he still wishes to curl up against his demon.

Fingers laced together, the blond peers over the wall of sleek feathers before focusing on the carved path ahead. Their bare feet manoeuvre past twisting tree roots that curl out of the soft earth, feeling the crinkling of leaves that have lost their glow; as if cut off from their very source of life. It’s not until they are further from the silence of the glade when Steve speaks up.

“You’ve hunted the kukilu before, right? To get those hydsz.” Glancing up at his demon, he waits for Bucky’s affirmative nod before continuing. “Do other demons hunt them, too?”

“Yes, there are other herds of kukilu around this realm. All of them are hunted by some of my kind.”

“But why?” Steve frowns, for surely not all demons choose to live in isolated caves only illuminated by their powers. But he can’t see any other reason to skin such beautiful creatures except to then find comfort in the feel of their pelts. “To decorate their little cave homes, too?” Steve teases with a lop-sided grin, earning him a disapproving glare from the dark class.

“Their hydsz can be used in trading,” he grumbles in reply.

“But none of them seemed to fear you. Or us. But they knew we were there.” Oh, they definitely knew. Even before Steve had even realised what he was supposed to be searching for.

“They sensed no danger. Their eyes are able to interpret the intentions that leak into auras.”

“Is that why their eyes glow?”

“Their eyes are… Ah, what is the word?” Bucky frowns, a spark of annoyance creeping into the lines around his eyes.

“Adapted?” Steve offers questioningly.

“Mhm. Their eyes are adapted to help them to see, but it is mostly thought to come from the flowers they consume,” he says as if that much should be obvious.

“The ones that were glowing in the clearing?”

“Yes. The chemicals within the plants make their blood glow, too.”

“It glows that white colour as well?” The blond’s eyes widen in disbelief. The thought of blood glowing… it’s a peculiar, surreal thought. Though he supposes that he is in a rather peculiar, surreal realm. _Gods…_ Everything humanity proposed about the Netherworld, not one considered the absolute beauty of it all.

“Kukilu in different areas have different coloured eyes and blood,” the dark class reveals, for he’s seen it himself. Though the creatures used to try to run from the demon as soon as their senses caught a whiff of him and the pure hatred and desperation that surely swirled into his aura. Going on missions for the Kyosw certainly didn’t allow him to perceive the hidden magnificence the realm contains. Not that he really sees it now, for he can’t bear to tear his eyes from the amber pulse that emits from the smaller male’s body.

“Because the flowers are different across the Netherworld?” Scientifically, it’s the only logical reason the cadet can come up with. “Some sort of chemical within them?”

“Yes. Some glow yellow or orange, others pink, green, blue… It’s vast.”

Although it’s a morbid thought, Steve thinks that the slaughter of the kukilu would make for a rather pretty scene of bloodshed. But coincidently, that consideration leads his mind onto other matters that have the gears in his head turning and rumbling as he tries to figure it out.

“What do you do with the meat when they are killed for their hydsz?”

“Their flesh can be eaten,” he responds bluntly.

“Eaten?” Steve feels a little sick just thinking about consuming vibrant slabs, little glowing strips getting stuck between one’s teeth. Bucky chuckles upon noticing the blond’s grimace.

“It tastes nice, you would like it.”

“But why eat it? I don’t get it. Do you need to eat?” Although fiends have been caught ripping into human (and non-human) flesh, it would be foolish to assume that because of this, all demons are meat-eaters, and that all such beings need to eat. Especially when the demons caught eating have been captured, and never proceed to show the desire to eat when offered food as an experiment.

“You gain strength by eating,” Bucky clarifies. “By taking the lifeforce of another being. Consuming souls…”

“But a lot of bonded demons don’t eat?” If any at all. Quite honestly, apart from Bucky, Steve hasn’t ever seen a fiend at the academy eat, nor heard their stomachs growl in protest at being empty. Yet they still grow stronger, otherwise, many of them would be useless to the academy.

“They get energy through their human’s soul, which the bond links to. They survive that way,” he says, his metallic thumb running over the cadet’s prominent knuckles. “And each kill with manifested weapons allows bonded demons to absorb the energy of the slain demon.”

“Oh…” Steve assumes that must be the reason as to why more experienced soldiers, tend to have higher level demons. If each kill in turn makes their own demon stronger with that transfer of energy, it only makes everything that much more obvious. It’s almost strange that scientists never truly considered it before. While the military has always believed humans to be the ones to benefit from forming bonds with demons, they never once considered that those bonded creatures get something out of it too: _power._ Though in the end, in exchange, they lose their _freedom._ “But you ate those plums?”

“They are delicious. But I did not need to eat them,” Bucky chuckles, as if such an idea is absurd.

“So why do demons take human souls when you can eat these creatures instead?”

“Because humans have the richest souls.” There’s nothing more to it than that. Nothing else that draws a demon in more than the vibrancy of a human’s soul as it pulses with life. The desire to rip it from that body is often too much for demons to cope with. Demons have _died_ to wrap their very essence around souls. Have been drawn into an entirely new realm just because they’re baited with a mere fraction of a human soul… They’re _intoxicating._ Little else means much to demons, except that inevitable power that comes with those tantalising souls. Even Bucky has experienced the temptation- though he acted very differently upon it so long ago.

“Is that why demons invaded the human realm? Back in the war.”

“It was a war between the Empress, and Schmidt. Or more accurately, their followers. But lone demons were a part of the war, too,” he declares, though truthfully, Bucky would rather not talk about his past. There’s too many ghosts that feel as if they may still be chasing him. Reminding him… giving him glimpses of all that has happened, and all that will. “Though Schmidt wanted the Xelsw, not just souls.”

“Written energy…” Steve murmurs, recalling as such. Though his thoughts quickly return to the topic at hand. “So animals have souls?”

“Yes, just like the beings other than demons in this realm,” the dark class exposes, trying to conjure up the right words to explain it. “Plants also have life matter, like souls, too. Lesser souls, you could call them.”

 _Like a hierarchy of power_ , Steve thinks to himself.

“And demons don’t? Have souls, that is,” the cadet asks, his mind trying to work around the fact that _every living thing has a soul,_ all except demons.

“No, we certainly do not… It is why many of my kind crave them.”

Steve doesn’t comment on that, for which the warrior is immensely grateful for. Steve may have forgiven him, but he still feels guilty about what he did. But all he wanted was to have that amber soul in his embrace… though he now understands that manipulating his lover’s dreams is not the way to have it. Even if such manipulation was only used in the beginning, while their bond had still been cementing into what would become the strongest bond the academy _ever_ sees.

“So, what’s with this Empress demon? She fought against Schmidt?” Steve queries, so unsure of the details. Though if he’s certain of one thing, it’s that the Empress must be pretty amazing to want to go against the Kyosw. Hell, if Steve dreamt, he would surely have nightmares of the crossing of their paths. He can even _almost_ still feel the shadowy shard deep within the crimson flesh of his stomach.

“A story for another time, my little warrior.”

“But-“

“Steve,” the demon insists firmly.

“Okay,” he mutters begrudgingly in reply, just as they approach the tumbling waterfall. But it’s far from a topic that the blond has discarded. He’ll ask the fiend about it again, when the time is right. For now, as the demon helps him climb up the flat rocks that stretch up along the side of the waterfall, Steve can just allow them this moment of serenity in the quiet night.

Once back in the lilac-tinted light of the room, Steve plants his hand on the thick, muscular flesh of the demon’s upper arm. Bucky peers down at the blond with a curious smile as the cadet edges a little closer into the fiend’s warmth.

“Thank you for today,” the younger man murmurs softly between them, certain that the demon can hear him regardless of how quietly he chooses to speak.

“Of course, my little warrior. It was my pleasure,” he replies, leaning down to peck the blond’s plump lips.

Just as Bucky goes to pull away, Steve cups the demon’s jaw eagerly within his palms, pulling him down for a far firmer kiss. Strong arms slip around a slim waist, jolting the cadet closer into his chest. A tiny, breathless moan escapes the blond’s parted lips that the demon’s tongue grazes over. Every gentle touch has a shiver trailing down the younger man’s spine, like a shard of ice trailing down his skin, pooling a heated sensation into his stomach. As soft lips move against one another, and tongues caress, the demon’s fingertips gingerly grip the hem of Steve’s t-shirt, a gentle sign that the blond could ignore. But he doesn’t. A desperate, encouraging moan seeps into their kiss, slender fingers of one hand drifting along the demon’s chiselled jawline until knotting into the base of the dark strands. Tugging firmly once in his grip, Bucky immediately takes the action as a sign to lead their passionate kiss further.

Calloused fingers tug at the hem of Steve’s top, slowly sliding it along the cadet’s back until the cadet is forced to lift his arms to free himself of the restrictive fabric. But as soon as the material is no longer caging the blond’s wrists above his head, Steve finds himself on his tiptoes, one arm slung around the demon’s neck while the other rests on the warmth of Bucky’s right pectoral. Just as he does this, the demon’s hands find the smooth curve of Steve’s ass through the thin material of his trousers. With a low growl vibrating in his chest -one that the cadet quickly swallows with a moan of his own in their resumed kiss- Bucky’s hands pull up to rest at the dip of Steve’s waist. Before the cadet can emit a whine of protest, Bucky tenderly hooks his fingers into the waistband, before suddenly yanking the material down to the flesh of the blond’s thighs.

Having to lean closer into the smaller man to push the clothing down further, he finds himself quickly needing to kneel in front of his lover to allow him to awkwardly step out of the trousers to free his ankles. Bucky hums as he slowly stands, Steve’s grip still in his hair while the demon’s hot breath caresses the pale skin of Steve’s inner thigh, his hip bone and abdomen to his ribcage where the dark class trails of path of peppered kisses until his mouth encloses around one pink nipple.

“Bucky!” Steve gasps, his pitch high with surprise laced with undeniable arousal. The blond can feel his legs beginning to tremble, a tingling sensation dominating his skin under the demon’s attentive, wet mouth. “I can’t do this standing,” he breathes out, already feeling close to his legs crumbling under him. His skin is still so sensitive; practically begging the demon to touch him, and yet he feels as if he may explode with just the right caress in just the right place.

With a final, little too-harsh tug against the pert nub, Bucky pulls back to nip once at Steve’s sharp collarbone. Metallic hand on the blond’s jutting hipbone, the demon gently guides the younger man back onto the nest of furs. Bare skin laid upon silk, Steve’s body ripples with a shiver, blue eyes closing as he’s overwhelmed by pure sensation. The blond can perceive the slide of the demon’s own trousers being discarded, thrown uncaringly towards the entrance of their secret dwelling.

Steve can feel the demon’s warmth radiating against the inner smoothness of his thighs as Bucky settles his body between them. Leaning over the blond, a metallic palm rests flat on the pelts beside golden locks, begging blue orbs to reveal themselves as a single, flesh finger snakes down the faint dips of Steve’s chest. Carving a tender path over the blond’s heart, the slight bump of his stomach before swirling round to trace along Steve’s hip, the top of his thigh and right round to the inner crease of the younger man’s groin. The cadet instantly jolts his hips up at the touch, his half-erect cock gracing the demon’s stomach teasingly before Steve’s body settles back down upon the furs once more. All the while, blue eyes remained screwed tightly shut, refusing to look at the demon with a gaze that would surely be dripping with lust… A ~~desire~~ _need._

“Look at me,” the demon beckons to the blond, his gentle voice laced with a commanding tone. Unable to resist, baby blues open to stare up into eyes wholly silver that reflect the sea of passion that is present within his own. “What do you want me to do?” Bucky whispers gruffly.

“I don’t know,” the blond murmurs, shifting his gaze away from the fiend, and to one of the purple orbs of fire that illuminate their skin as if lilacs had blossomed upon them. But in an instant, his line of sight is obscured by the darkness of one of Bucky’s wings. Steve gasps when warm fingers grip his chin, forcing him to look back into silver orbs that seem to _glow_ in the shadow cast by fallen, dark strands.

“Tell me what you want,” the fiend demands firmly, though the cadet can feel the demon’s excitement that yearns for him.

“I just… I just want you,” Steve admits quietly. His voice barely as high as a whisper when he says: _“Only you.”_

With that confession out in the open, Bucky quickly dips down to press his lips almost harshly against the blond’s plump ones. It’s a short, peck of a kiss, but it conveys all that they need to in that moment. It’s as if an understanding had passed between them without a word spoken.

“How far do you want to take this?” The demon breathes, for he needs to know _now,_ and not when he’s lost in complete and utter lust. Needs to keep himself in check. Because as much as he desperately wants the blond, he doesn’t want to hurt him. Physically, or mentally. He doesn’t want to force Steve into doing something that he doesn’t really want to do. Doesn’t want it to be _too soon._

“As far as you want to go,” Steve mutters, lips ghosting Bucky’s with each word that rolls off his tongue.

“No, answer me.” He can feel the cadet’s desire, but Bucky needs him to say it. To confirm it. Because what the body, heart and mind want, are very different things indeed. However, in this case, all three in each being yearn for the very same thing…

“I want you to _make love_ to me,” he whines wantonly. _Gods,_ he doesn’t want anything else. Not in this moment where he so desperately needs to feel this _connection_ to Bucky. Needs to feel it pulse through their bond until it floods his chest and overwhelms him. Consumes him.

“I want that, too, Steve,” the demon coos, planting a light kiss on those rosy lips before leaving little ones on the very corners of Steve’s mouth. Just as the blond parts those lips in protest, in needing _more,_ the fiend slips his tongue inside for a sweet taste of his beloved. Pale arms move from their place on the furs to entwine around the demon’s broad shoulders, wrists locking at the nape of Bucky’s neck, pulling the demon in to deepen their kiss. The fiend’s right hand squeeze’s the blond’s thigh, before smoothing down to the back of the cadet’s leg, pulling the limb so that his knee rests in line with Bucky’s own hips.

Steve moans sweetly as the demon’s calloused hand drifts roughly up the back of one smooth thigh, before becoming gentler as his palm presses against the inner path of his leg, where the skin is softest. Like the silk of creamy petals. The touch trails further up, knuckles brushing the younger man’s pinkened cock, before sliding down, almost painfully slow. Because all the while, the blond’s breaths are becoming hitched as small waves of shivers course throughout his body. Steve’s hips suddenly jerk once as he feels that tender caress tracing the soft rim of his hole gently. Not pressing in, just allowing the blond to get accustomed to the feel of Bucky’s fingers against his most sensitive part.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” The demon asks, voice lacking any authority. The last thing he wants is for Steve to feel pressured in any way. It hasn’t been long since Steve awakened in this new body of his. A body that is still sensitive, with a mind that is truly still trying to comprehend the death of his life in the human realm. “I don’t want to push you.”

“No. I _need_ this. I need to be connected to you.”

“We are connected. The bond we-“ Bucky doesn’t get to finish his soft-hearted explanation before the blond’s breathless words cut him off.

“I know we are connected through this bond… But I need to feel you _inside_ me.” It’s a yearning that comes from the very pit of his stomach. Like a lingering sensation from the first, and only time they had sex. Before they went into a war they had such a slim chance of winning. Now that they are in each other’s arms again… Steve can’t deny his desire any longer. He’s forgiven Bucky, and now all he yearns for is Bucky’s touch. Their bodies moving as one, their combined moans echoing in their ears like a sweet melody. And the warmth that comes from the demon’s heated embrace that makes it seem as if lava is trailing over every inch of his pale skin. _“Please.”_

“Alright, shh,” the demon soothes, a sensation of pure _longing_ resounding through the tightening bond that they share. He knows that it not only comes from himself, but the cadet too. For a moment, Bucky can’t quite believe that they can actually make love together. Right here, right now. Not after they defeated death itself. And after all that Bucky has done, and the ghosts of his past that Steve is still not fully aware of, he didn’t think that the blond would allow the demon to hold him in such a way. As if Steve is the very treasure that drives the world to spin. “I’m right here.”

 _“Bucky,”_ Steve whines, voice caught up in a moan as Bucky’s fingers circle the blond’s rim gently, as if afraid to hurt the younger man. “I need you. I _love_ you.”

There is no doubt in Bucky’s mind that the cadet’s words are true. It’s not just the way that slim, pale body reacts to the demon’s touch. Nor how blue eyes like two glistening lakes peer up at him with every emotion pooled into them, no dam built up to hold them back. Nor it is shown in just the way short nails dig into the broad expanse of the demon’s shoulders as a shiver runs beneath the cadet’s porcelain skin. _No_. Bucky can sense it in a way that is so much more _raw._ The emotions across their bond are unfiltered, untainted by the body and one’s mind. The sensations are pure, and utterly fierce without a shred of doubt. There’s a mix of emotions that vibrate through their bond, but one is far stronger. Felt immensely by not only the blond, but the demon as well…

“I love you, too.”


	3. Shadows Form When Light Embraces the Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So after some thought, I'm going to keep each chapter to about 5000 words(minimum). You can check the progress of how much is written of the next chapter as a percentage in the end notes, which will be updated every few days so ya'll can see if you want when I move onto writing a new chapter etc As far as the chapter updates themselves are concerned, they will be every 2 weeks until further notice.
> 
> Alright then, enjoy this chapter! ;) <3

“I love you, too.”

Bucky’s words echo in the blond’s mind, sparking like an electric heat down the length of his vertebrae, crawling across his body as if those words had been kissed onto his skin. Steve uses the arms wrapped around the demon’s neck as leverage to steady himself as he reaches up just a fraction to lock their lips tightly together, just as Bucky’s fingers leave his hole to drift to the flesh of the back of his thigh. Their adjusted position allows the demon to push against Steve’s leg, lifting the limb towards the blond’s chest enough so that he gets the hint and moves his ankle to rest at the base of the demon’s spine, knee angled away from Bucky to expose himself more to the dark class.

Steve moans into the kiss, those sounds swallowed all too eagerly by the demon. He’s so lost in the tingling of his mouth as Bucky gently bites his lower lip, that he doesn’t register the absence of Bucky’s fingers upon him. However, just a few moments into their kiss, the demon’s right hand tucked between them, Bucky’s knuckles brush against the curve of Steve’s ass. But the anticipation that comes with such a caress does not prepare the blond for what comes next. Steve feels a lukewarm wetness tracing the pink skin his opening, and he can’t stop the yelp of surprise that escapes past his lips at the unexpected sensation.

“Ah! Stop!”

“Hm, what is it?” Bucky pulls back entirely to lean on his knees in front of the cadet’s splayed legs, concern woven into every detail of his expression. Simultaneously, the blond’s arms had left the demon’s shoulders to allow himself to prop up on his elbows, the furs beneath him a luxurious cushion. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Yes. What the fuck are you using?” Steve exclaims, though it lacks any bite or hint of disgust. Instead, it’s a verbal display of his intense confusion.

“Lube?” The demon says it questioningly. Perhaps a little hesitantly, as if he knows he’s done something wrong. The expression reminding Steve of a guilty dog.

“Let me see,” the blond demands, a frown settling stubbornly between his brows.

A second passes, and Bucky doesn’t move a muscle. Steve thinks he’s going to have to ask again when the demon lifts his flesh hand slowly for the cadet to see. Those digits parted with relaxation, Steve can pick out the clear trails of a gel-like substance between the demon’s index and middle finger. The liquid shines somewhat lilac with the reflection of the orbs of fire that bask the room, but otherwise appears rather dull. Harmless, even.

“Where did you get that?” Steve doesn’t recall any _click_ of a cap opening, or the demon reaching out to grab anything. Then again, he had felt quite hazy with their hungry kiss.

“I made it.”

“Made it?” The blond’s eyebrows rise at that, disbelieving. Surely the fiend is talking nonsense. But if he isn’t, why is Bucky only showing him now? “Then why-“

“I thought you might be more comfortable with human made lubricant when we’ve… But, I don’t have that here, so I was going to use this…” Bucky says it as if he’s asking Steve for his permission. And of course, that’s exactly what he’s doing. Though the demon has a feeling that the blond might need a bit of convincing.

“How can you even make that? You’re not exactly an earth class.” Steve scowls with his perplexation. For the substance is something seemingly unrelated to his power and exactly what Bucky is capable of, leaving the blond a little taken aback. He can only assume that it’s something that comes with being a demon in general, rather than having anything to do with Bucky’s class. Those thoughts are only confirmed as the dark demon provides him with the answers he seeks.

“It’s just compressed _shadows_ , as you call it.” Bucky curls those slick fingers slightly as silver eyes flicker to the liquid that catches the purple fires, as if absorbing their warmth. “It’s not harmful. It eases… mating. Different classes of demons have their own way of creating it.” Bucky doesn’t look at Steve’s eyes. In fact, he looks everywhere except those blue orbs and pink cock swollen between the younger male’s pale legs.

“I don’t care what it is, I’m not having you put that up my-“

“I don’t want to hurt you, Steve.” The demon pleads his sincerity, a hint of pain to his words that the blond picks up on. And for a moment there, the younger man didn’t think that Bucky was talking about sex. “Why does this bother you? It comes from my power.”

“Mm, I’m sure you’ll say that when we’ve finished, too,” Steve says, a bitterness laced into his words as if scolding the fiend.

It takes a quiet moment until Bucky perceives the cadet’s smirk, and he lets out a small, rough laugh before leaning down to kiss the blond. Their lips fit so perfectly, like two pieces of a puzzle coming together to be complete, as if carved for just the other being.

_“Steve,”_ the demon hums, peppering sweet kisses upon those plump lips before leading a path along the cadet’s soft cheek and the pink flush that blossoms under the skin before journeying down to his jawline. Here, Bucky’s tender kisses become firmer as he feels the blond’s pulse under his lips, reminding the demon of the younger man’s nerves. The only time he’s not pressing hard enough to feel the effects of his heart beating is when his lips ghost the cadet’s throat as he murmurs the name that rolls right off his tongue. “Steve, my love.” It’s spoken after every few kisses, as if not saying it would drive Bucky to insanity. But it also seems as if each time is making the demon more desperate as he begins to barely nip the skin with his teeth as he reaches one slender collarbone, coercing high-pitched gasps from the blond. Until, at last, it’s as if Bucky can’t take it anymore. “Steve… I want to be inside you,” he whispers, hot breath teasing one pink nub.

Steve shivers, stomach twisting in anticipation before finally nodding eagerly, letting out the quietest, _“please.”_

That urgent plea is all the encouragement and reassurance Bucky needs to bite once at Steve’s nipple, pulling the pink skin gently between white teeth before releasing it. Gasping out a surprised moan, the blond doesn’t quite register the hand at his inner thigh, reaching slowly higher with the pitch of his whine... Not until a finger is tenderly circling his soft opening. Bucky’s tongue smooths over the sensitive reddened mark on the blond’s chest left by his touch; the mere action forcing a tingling sensation over the delicate skin when the air graces the wet patch left behind, almost teasing him. Steve’s entire body jolts just a fraction as Bucky’s middle finger suddenly enters him, just to the first slick knuckle, then slowly pushing to the second, the transparent gel easing any potential painful friction. There’s no pain at all, in fact. Just as odd sensation that may just very well become familiar to him in due time.

“You can add another, it doesn’t hurt,” Steve hurriedly informs the demon. Bucky raises a brow in response, but soon pulls out his finger entirely. Not even a second later, two fingertips are tracing the faint wetness of his opening. The blond tenses for a brief moment until the demon’s plants a kiss just above his erratic heart. Right above where the amber glow of his aura is thickest. The younger man’s body relaxed, eyes half-closed as he basks in his lover’s warmth, Bucky delicately pushes his two fingers past the tight ring of muscle into the blond’s heat. Steve winces at the uncomfortable stretch, but the slight ache swiftly fades as those calloused fingers stroke along his inner walls. Dragging along the silkiness, after a few luxurious thrusts the demon forces his fingers apart, coercing an enchanting moan to push past Steve’s lips.

Bucky hums his approval of the little sounds the blond makes, only desiring to hear more of those bewitching noises permeate his ears. The demon nuzzles at the cadet’s throat, absorbing the sweet scent that emits from his pores when Steve bares his neck more for the fiend to paint with gentle kisses and harsh nips soothed by his tongue. Sucking the smooth, reddened skin into his mouth, Bucky crooks the fingers deep inside of his lover, leisurely pulling them out. Well, right until he feels that soft, slight bump which he firmly presses the pads of his fingers against.

Steve hips abruptly jerk up, not expecting the hot spark of pleasure that gathered in his stomach as a drawn-out moan escapes his throat. Bucky releases the pressure, watching the younger man regain his senses as he lifts his hips towards the demon encouragingly, his hard cock brushing the demon’s muscular abdomen with the movement. As soon as Steve settles back against the furs with a disheartened whine, Bucky resumes the angle of his fingers, rubbing little circles against that very same area. The blond’s relieved gasp turns into a moan that resounds against the walls of the cave, his head thrown back with the intense pleasure that runs along his spine. Slender fingertips reaching up to dig into muscular flesh and metal, the blond’s spine twists as his thighs rub against the demon’s hips. The cadet feels as if his body is on fire, sparking with such an intense, _electric_ hot sensation that it’s as if that rising heat could explode at any moment.

“Can I-“ Bucky doesn’t get to finish his question when his ears are filled with the blond’s desperate words.

“Yes!” Blue eyes open fully only briefly before dark lashes shield them away tightly “ _Fuck_. I feel like I’m gonna come soon,” he confesses, writhing under the demon, the furs rubbing against his tingling skin. It’s beginning to feel like far too much, and they’ve barely started.

“You can if you want to,” Bucky coos, inching his two calloused fingers deep inside the blond’s warmth, before pulling them out entirely to rest against his rim, only to tenderly repeat that movement over and over. Every pull drags along the younger man’s sweet spot, sending a wave of pleasure through him with each stroke.

“No, I wanna come with you,” Steve protests stubbornly, shaking his head slightly as strands of gold catch in the arch of his brows.

“We have all the time we want, Steve. There’s no rush,” the demon attempts to persuade the blond, but it soon becomes clear to him that Steve only yearns for them to climax at the very same time, to be enveloped in each other’s ecstasy.

“No, I don’t-“ Steve affirms, hips jerking as if little flares were igniting his those sharp joints **.**

“Okay, okay,” the dark class soothes, pulling his slick fingers away entirely, coercing a disapproving whine from the blond’s lips.

Steve fingers instinctively leave warm metal to trace down the demon’s carved chest, right to his hard stomach where the primal path leads slender digits to his own spread thighs. Bucky’s lips against his marred throat fail to halt the blond’s inquisitive fingers as they press against his hole, the slight wetness there transferring onto the soft pads. However, his fingers are barely there for a second until a firm hold around his hand is pulling them away and up. Steve opens his eyes to see the demon entwining their fingers together, palm against palm as he presses affectionate kisses along the bony knuckles before releasing them. Caught up in gazing into silver eyes shadowed by the fan of sleek feathers against his broad shoulders, Steve is surprised when he feels Bucky’s fingers at his pink rim again. Or rather, three, slick fingers. The blond isn’t naïve enough to think that the stretch won’t hurt, even if it’ll be painful for just a mere second.

Steve reaches up above his head, forcing his hands to clench harshly into the soft furs, rather than the tough flesh of Bucky’s broad shoulders. The digging of his fingers forces the rest of his body to succumb to relaxation, allowing his thighs to fall a fraction further apart. Exposing his throat for the demon to mark as he sees fit, it’s the ultimate display of submission. Of _acceptance._ Of _trust._ Of _forgiveness._

After a moment that felt like a lifetime to the cadet, Bucky fingers finally press into that incredibly tight warmth. Steve has to bite his lower lip, lifting his legs so that the balls of his feet rest gently on the demon’s hips. The movement allows Bucky’s fingers to sink deeper, almost effortless as he feels the blond’s heat clenching around his fingers entirely. Withdrawing those thick digits, a moan echoes off plump lips as the dark class seeks out the silky warmth of the blond’s innermost walls again and again. Steve’s moans only intensify as the demon paints a circular blemish upon his neck right above the pulse thrashing with pleasure, his fingers seeking out that spot once more. But it is not the first mark eagerly formed on that pale skin, nor will it be the final stain of the demon’s sly lips and pearly teeth. Not just tonight, but of every night they are yet to spend in each other’s embrace.

Steve’s sharp hipbones swiftly jerk up as the demon’s fingertips hit that spot right inside him. He doesn’t need any encouragement to begin grinding himself back onto the demon’s fingers, coercing them into caressing that same place again and again as he feels the sparks of his ecstasy working up his spine only to cluster at the base of his cock. Pre-come dripping onto the slim stretch of his abdomen, the blond’s lips can only be parted with his constant moans that fill the cave with the sound of their intoxicating siren’s call. Those beautiful noises only make the demon’s cock throb as he aches to be inside of the blond’s relieving heat.

“I’m ready, Bucky,” Steve whines timidly. His body feels as if it’s on the very edge of pure, heightened pleasure. Yet at the same time, his white-hot orgasm feels so far away. It’s not enough. Nowhere near enough. The blond desperately yearns for that intense closeness with his demon. And then, only then, can he have that completeness.

“Just want to make sure-“

“That’s enough. I need _more._ Need _you,_ ” he boldly insists. “And not just your fingers… As good as they feel,” the blond says, voice softening toward the end as blue orbs refuse to gaze into silver ones.

“Alright…” Bucky gives in, pulling his fingers slowly from the cadet’s heat. That same, shiny palm encases around his erect cock, spreading warm lubricant over the thick length. After a few strokes, the fiend pauses, expression furrowed in thought as the blond comes down from his high. Bucky watches the blond shift against the furs, wincing at the soft hairs rub his sensitive skin. But the demon’s next words have Steve’s movement ceasing. “Do you want to be on top? It might be easier with the hydsz not touching you.”

The blond stares unblinking up at the demon who leans back in contemplation, gazing right into blue, entrancing orbs. Steve’s cheeks flush a deep crimson, as if someone had planted rose petals upon the soft, creamy skin.

“You want me to _ride_ you?” The blond exclaims, tone hushed with his embarrassment.

The demon’s head tilts to the side as if trying to work out what the younger man means, until it finally clicks into place. Human intimate terms… they never fail to both intrigue and confuse him.

“Do you not want to?” Bucky’s head tilts the other way just a mere fraction, trying to suss out the blond’s hesitancy.

“No, I do!” Steve insists, hauling himself up to rest languidly on his elbows, gaze casting down to inspect the pelts beside him. As if they were the most interesting thing in the world to look at in that moment. “I just don’t want to…”

“To what?” The demon urges, metallic fingers reaching out to press under the cadet’s chin. Gently lifting, blue eyes are forced to meet his tender stare. A weak sigh leaves the blond’s plump lips, a sign of yielding to the dark class. Bucky is surprised by the vulnerability he perceives in the very depths of pools of blue. It’s something he didn’t expect to truly ever see in the younger man. But, he supposes that they have both been through an awful lot. Most of which Steve is still coming to grips with.

“Disappoint you,” he eventually whispers. The younger man just can’t help but worry, even if his anxieties are unfounded. They nag at the edges of his mind like little pesky bugs demanding his attention. The last time they had sex, Steve had allowed himself to be enveloped in the pleasure Bucky gave him. But if the blond were to somewhat take the lead instead… he just fears that he may not be as _good._ As strange as that may sound, considering that both human and demon are only as experienced as each other. Still, it’s something he immediately finds himself contemplating. Bucky may have been inexperienced their first time, but he certainly hadn’t acted like it in all the times they have been intimate with each other. Steve’s own inexperience only makes him apprehensive. Though in reality, his nervous thoughts are far more complex than they need to be. When it’s just them, together with this bond pulsing between them, there’s no need to try and impress the other. No need to try and make them feel good so determinedly. When all that’s needed to give the other pure pleasure, is just themselves. There’s no special, certain way about it. At the very back of his mind, tucked away somewhere because of his sudden worries, Steve knows that… He just merely needs his demon to confirm as such and assure his anxieties away.

“I don’t ever think you could do that, Steve,” the dark class says, his smile empathetic. After all, he had his own concealed doubts the first time they made love together- and that’s exactly what it had been. It was never just sex, it was _love._ Even if back then, both human and demon were yet to quite realise, and voice it. But that still doesn’t change how they felt about even other, even in the past, just before everything began to fall apart, and death was thrust upon them.

Steve gnaws at his bottom lip, worrying it between his teeth, before abruptly letting go of the swollen flesh. The blond reaches out a hand, fingers curling faintly to gesture the demon closer. Bucky smirks, his hands planting themselves beside Steve’s hips before their lips press in a languid, heartfelt kiss. The blond’s hand rests against the nape of the demon’s neck, as if needing that touch to ground him. The dark class is the one to break the kiss, though more than a little reluctantly… But his cock is aching to be inside of the blond’s tight heat. To feel his lover in the most intimate, closest way possible.

Slender hand drifting down to plant between muscular pectorals, the blond faintly pushes against the demon’s chest. Bucky instantly gets the message and allows himself to be guided back down against the furs. Simultaneously, the younger man slides up onto his knees, shuffling forward between the demon’s legs. Once Bucky is laid down, his head propped up by a folded pelt, silver eyes can only watch as pale thighs smooth across the demon’s own until they rest either side of Bucky’s taut hips. Steve feels awfully _vulnerable_ like this. With his legs open as he straddles the dark class, lowering himself onto the demon’s firm abdomen until the curve of his ass is met with the fiend’s radiating heat. Steve can faintly perceive the round head of the demon’s hardened cock against the very base of his spine, a slither of pre-come painting the light pink flush of his skin.

Fingers slightly curled against the demon’s chest, Steve bends down to peck the demon’s lips. But when the fiend chases after the younger man, the blond can only hum as wet lips linger, quickly sparking with more passion as Bucky’s tongue swipes along that plump, lower lip. A throaty moan escapes Steve’s throat as he parts his lips for the demon as they find a desperate synchrony, the blond’s hips rocking against the demon’s abdomen, taut like hard rope beneath his pinkened cock. After a few bashful rolls off his member against Bucky’s heated skin, Steve gasps, breaking the kiss when he feels the demon’s fleshy palm wrap around his hip. The touch has goose bumps rising along his side, cascading over his thighs and upper-arms like how a fire within a forest may spread so suddenly.

“Whenever you’re ready, Steve,” the demon coos with a final kiss planted just beneath the jut of the blond’s jaw.

“Mmkay,” he mumbles, pushing himself back up to sit more firmly against the demon’s groin. Biting his lower lip in the hopes of fighting of the blush that threatens to burn his cheeks, Steve removes a single hand from muscled pectoral, to reach behind himself until his fingers encase Bucky’s thick length. Steve can practically feel the pulsing vein within his grasp, transferring the clear slick onto his own palm. Giving Bucky’s cock a few prolonged, inelegant strokes, his thighs burn as he pushes himself up a little, temporarily relieving the demon of his light weight. The new position allows Steve to arch his back slightly, just enough until he feels the bulbous head of the demon’s cock pressing against his twitching opening.

Despite the younger man’s stomach being a bundle of nerves, there’s not a single doubt in his mind that he wants this. Needs this. Only becoming more eager for the closeness that is sure to come once they connect their bodies intimately, akin to how the reverberating bond between them almost makes them one whole entire being, rather than two separate entities.

With a shaky breath, Steve gradually sinks himself down onto the demon’s erect cock, forcing his own body to relax- to accept Bucky. As soon as that round head pushes past the tight ring of muscle, a sharp gasp leaves the blond’s rosy lips. Not just at the sensation of his walls stretching around the demon’s length, but at the vice-like hold on his left hip. Bucky’s calloused hand is gripping the sensitive flesh tightly, his jaw clenched at the engulfing pleasure that sparks low in his groin. Steve is almost certain that the touch will leave a purple mark it’s in place come morning, a silent sign of the fiend trying to keep his control.

“Ah, ah B-“ Steve gasps out, the pitch of his voice high as he tries not to squirm from the intense pressure of the demon’s fingers digging into his flesh. “Too hard.”

Bucky immediately removes his hand to clench tightly at his own sides, as if the blond’s words had burned him. The fiend’s expression flutters with guilt as he drowns the urge to jolt his hips up into the younger man’s enticing heat.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” the demon apologises gruffly.

“No, no it’s okay,” Steve assures the demon, shaking his head to dismiss the fiend’s apology. “You can put your hand back, just not so rough… this body is… sensitive,” the younger man admits softly, flushing deeply across his chest. As if a patch of rose buds were uncurling beneath his skin.

Instead of giving any sort of verbal reply, Bucky places both metallic and flesh hand upon the sudden edges of the blond’s hips, gently gripping them. The hold doesn’t keep the younger man in place, but merely allows him to feel the blond’s silky skin under his palms, allowing him to focus on Steve, and only Steve. Rather than viciously fighting the thoughts of chasing his own pleasure.

Thighs trembling, the younger man continues to lower himself further onto the demon’s slick cock, his tight warmth enveloping Bucky’s length with each shaky breath. Steve can feel his erratic pulse thumping through his veins, pleasure coursing thickly, and ever so sweetly within his blood… within his _cells._ It’s euphoric- the sensation of filling himself completely with Bucky, and only Bucky. His demon. His _lover._ His everything. His Bucky…

The moment they are pressed flush together, the curve of Steve’s ass firmly pressing into the tops of the demon’s thighs, a wanton moan leaves the blond’s swollen lips. That pleasure echoes in Bucky’s own throat, the feel of his throbbing length encased entirely by the younger man’s silky walls so much more intense than he remembered. It takes every bit of the demon’s will power to not buck up to seat himself even deeper into that delicious heat he craves so much.

“You’re so tight,” Bucky groans, the words accentuated with a deep, primal growl that erupts from his chest.

“Fuck,” Steve swears breathlessly. The blond’s slim chest expands and contracts with trembling pants as his body tries to adjust to the immeasurable feel of Bucky’s cock nestled inside of him. Each breath has a flame of pleasure igniting along his spine, as if warm candle wax was being dripped onto his bare skin. “Bucky. Don’t say that,” he scolds, and yet there isn’t any bite to it.

“Mm, why not?” The demon teases, suave smirk lining his lips as he gazes up to search the infinite depths of those blue eyes.

“It’s embarrassing…”

“But you’re so beautiful. Everything about you…” The demon drifts off, for there’s nothing else to say: he loves everything about the younger man. Even things that may seem like flaws to others. The dark class slides the palm of his hands along the cadet’s waist, the caress firm, yet oh so very gentle. He can feel miniscule bumps beneath his hands as a shiver forced the blond’s breath to hitch. “Your skin turns such a lovely hue when you’re like this.”

“Like this?” Steve echoes, unsure what Bucky meant by his loving, admiring statement. As the blond investigates silver irises, they appear far darker than usual, and yet at the same time they practically glow, reflecting the purple orbs surrounding the chamber. It’s as if Steve is looking at the literal fire within those demonic eyes.

“Sat on my _cock,_ moaning,” Bucky taunts affectionately. “It’s like sinful music.”

Steve slaps the demon’s chest playfully in protest, an expression of mock annoyance woven into his features. But that façade of offence quickly disappears, replaced by fluttering lashes and a low moan when Bucky lifts his own hips slightly, sinking a fraction deeper into the blond.

“R-real smooth, Bucky,” Steve stutters, arching his neck back in bliss. After a brief moment, the younger man tilts forward, thick lashes pulling apart to look at the demon. “Oh gods… I didn’t think I was ever going to feel like this again,” he confesses, eyes welling with transparent tears, causing the blue rings to glisten in the light of the cave. “I thought-“

“Steve, look at me,” Bucky urges the younger man. And he does so, tiny droplets catching in soft lashes when he blinks. The demon smiles sincerely at the blond, rubbing gentling along his naked sides in an action he hopes is both comforting, and displays his devotion to the cadet. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Steve says softly, biting his lower lip for just a second before letting the flesh loose. “And I forgive you. I really do.” Then, even more quietly: “For everything.” He can’t say it enough. It’s as if the blond desperately needs Bucky to know just how serious he is about forgiving the demon for his past actions. The blond thinks he overreacted, but his mind had gone into a state of shock and disbelief. But no matter what, he doesn’t want to ever risk being parted from the demon once again. Especially not in that way again: when he almost hadn’t had the chance to tell Bucky that he forgives him, and ultimately loves him. Because what if Steve had died instantly, instead of having slowly bled out in his lover’s arms? What if Steve never got to tell Bucky about his feelings? What if Steve had died, and Bucky continued to live, thinking that Steve neither loved him, nor forgave him for the actions that ate away at his insides? The cadet wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself if he let that happen.

But it had taken death approaching them, for Steve to understand just how he felt (and still feels) about Bucky, and realise that what happened in the past, doesn’t change who Bucky is now. The dark class that he knows and loves. Steve feels like a fool, but… everything seems to have worked out. They couldn’t call it the perfect life: Steve is dead. At least as far as the entire human realm is concerned. But at the end of it all, after defeating death itself, they are together. Soulmates isn’t the right term, considering a certain dark fiend lacks one. But, yes… They are now in the eternal presence of their soulmate, their hearts tethered by an unbreakable bond. Both emotionally, and physically.

“I know,” Bucky soothes, bending his knees up enough to lull Steve closer. The blond’s elbows press into the demon’s rib cage as muscular arms entwine around his smaller form, aligning their chests. Fitting together like a complete puzzle with every curve and sharp angle. Just like this, Bucky presses a tender kiss to the blond’s warm temple, that mere action is like a physical manifestation of them putting the past behind them. Of moving past their mistakes of things said and done that they wished they could take back. Because none of that matters now. Not when it’s the beginning of an entirely new life for them. Quite literally for a certain little warrior. Now, they can only take it each day at a time. Each _kiss_ at a time.

But there is something that needs to be done. Unbeknown to the blond, there is s _omeone_ who expects something in return for the life they have given…


	4. Light Can Eradicate the Ghosts of a Dark Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so, so much for your support! Life has been so hectic recently, and knowing that you guys like this series and the comments you leave have made my day on numerous occasions. So, thank you <3

Just as Bucky’s lips left the blond’s temple, Steve hummed softly as their bond pulses with their unyielding affections. Not a tranquil second pass until their lips are melding sweetly together, tiny breaths huffing from the younger man’s throat, echoed by the demon’s encouraging grunt. This tender, loving moment is everything Steve has yearned for them. The world around them is quiet, as if they are isolated in their own impenetrable bubble. The troubles that the academy and the judgemental society brought down upon their bond are a distant memory…

Does Steve have regrets? Some, yes. The cadet wishes that he was the one to tell his mother of his affections for Bucky. Or rather, he affections for a _demon._ He wishes that he could explain to her, face to face, that so many things scientists believe about such creatures aren’t true. That not all of them are overwhelmed with malicious intent. Instead, that demons are capable of many things humans thought impossible. The potential for the emotions to flourish within demons is incredible, and Steve wishes to have told her all this. How creatures of darkness can laugh in amusement, and smile tenderly, how they can feel undeniable anguish. And, of course, how demons can shift their priorities: to push aside their primal instincts of slaughter and greed to be consume by their love for another. The desire to protect someone that is not themselves in a display of selflessness, rather than their sense of own survival. Bucky is the proof of all of this, and if Steve could have just spoken to her… Explained it all to her while the evidence was sitting right next to him… Perhaps she would have understood. Perhaps she wouldn’t have become frightened and screamed her fear. Maybe then Bucky wouldn’t have had to hide his true self around Sarah. He could have had his wings out freely as they ate delicious food at the table or, wrapped around the blond firmly while they watched the news from the dusty-odour couch.

Steve understands that it is hard to change someone’s views when they have thought the same thing for decades. Even more when they’ve been brought up that way, and only had their fears reinforced when their loved one was taken from them by the very thing that they fear. But still, Sarah is an understanding woman. After a while, maybe she would have come to accept Bucky for who he truly is… If only Steve had trusted her enough. But, if she had acted badly, there’s no telling what could have happened to the cadet and his bonded demon if the authorities got involved. If they learned that Bucky could escape containment much like how a lion could escape from a spider’s web. If they learned about just how deep his feelings for his demon are… At the end of the day, it was a risk that wasn’t worth taking. But that doesn’t mean that Steve can’t feel guilty about the decision.

It doesn’t take long for their kiss of longing to become one of fiery passion; pink lips glistening with sweet saliva as their tongues melted together in eager exploration. Their pulsing hearts are precisely aligned, so close, that all that separates them are layers of skin, flesh and bone. An unseen mass swirl around them. A sea of shadows with flame-like fragments embedded around its dark centre; almost as if their joined forms were setting off little orange sparks of pleasure. After a moment, breaking their kiss to capture more of the air around them, Steve rolls his hips leisurely against the demon. Dragging his leaking his member along Bucky’s firm abdomen with the movement, until only the head of the demon’s cock remains inside him, then the blond pushes back slowly onto the demon’s thick length. Testing the waters as if were as he only sinks further back until the curve of his ass hits the demon’s solid thighs. A moan is coerced from both of their parted lips at that- the pure, pleasurable sensation that flurries through them incredibly intense. Steve presses his face into the crook of Bucky’s neck, sighing against the warm skin as the blond’s silky heat envelops the demon’s cock entirely once more. Steve’s arms are still cradled between them on Bucky’s chest, feeling immeasurably safe in his demon’s embrace, and their connected bodies.

In this very moment, nothing could possibly be more perfect. Where the bonded pair are free to display their physical love for the other, as well as feel it reverberate between them, like an echo of affection and devotion going back and forth until there’s nothing but a continuous sensation running through them. Like a single river flowing constantly in opposite directions, so entwined, that it’s impossible to say where each way begins, and ends.

It’s not until after a quiet moment since Steve rolled his hips, that Bucky feels a faint dampness at the base of his throat. A saltiness against his skin that forces a frown to weave between the demon’s dark brows before realising that… his beloved is crying softly. Almost silently, his body vibrating with small, jolted shakes beneath the demon’s arms.

“Steve?” Bucky coos, nothing but concerned thoughts racing through his mind: is the younger man hurt? Is he upset? Has the demon done something wrong? Does he not want this, _him,_ anymore- has the cadet changed his mind? Or is reality crashing down upon him like a tidal wave? “Steve, my love. What’s wrong?”

“I-I…I can’t,” Steve whispers softly, voice hitching. It’s then that Bucky feels the younger man’s legs quivering at his sides. It the blond were to try to stand, the demon knows that he would instantly fall back onto the soft pelts that charcoal feathers currently absent-mindedly rub against. “It feels _so good.”_

A relieved breath creeps past the demon’s lips, reaching up his right hand to card through silky blond locks. The fiend can’t help but feel a slither of self-satisfaction: that his lover is so overwhelmed by pleasure, that he can’t even compel himself to bring more of that white-hot sensation into their cells. Allowing his calloused fingers to play with the golden strands at the nape of the younger man’s neck, he plants a compassionate kiss onto the crown of the blond’s head.

“Can I?” The demon asks lowly into the younger man’s red-tipped ear, his words sending a shiver through every nerve within the cadet’s heavenly body. Bucky barely has to wait a second before the blond is eagerly nodding against the demon’s collarbone in confirmation. Without having to explain himself, Steve understands the dark class all too well. But most of all, he trusts Bucky. Trusts him more than anyone he’s ever met or come to know. Steve would trust him with his most grave secrets, if only he had any to share. But perhaps, in time, he can come to learn of Bucky’s… and they can divide the burden of those ghosts between them.

Steve presses forward just a little, burying his face against Bucky’s neck to give the demon room to eventually move lovingly in and out of his warmth. The demon remains unmoving at first, only his fingertips running little doting circles along the valleys of the blond’s spine, each caress tingling the younger man’s sensitive skin. It’s as if he’s experiencing Bucky’s touches all over again. Slowly, yet oh-so deliberately, the dark class begins to grind his hips; only sliding a couple inches from the blond’s heat before soothing back up into the silky warmth that tightens ardently around the demon’s cock. He continues that rolling motion, as if they have all the time in the world. For it’s not about chasing their own pleasure, nor each other’s. No. It’s about having that physical closeness between them. Feeling their bond thrum fiercely in a mellow rhythm, at peace now that their bodies are finally entwining in the most intimate of ways. As if this new bond of theirs is finally cementing, securing in place like a tether that can never be broken. And after all they’ve been through, they need this more than anything. A reaffirmation to each other than neither of them are going to ever leave: they are bound together for eternity. At least that is what they firmly believe…

Bucky’s hips suddenly jerk up, his once gentle thrusts becoming more forceful- a controlled vigour to his movements that elicit a loud gasp of stunned pleasure from the blond. A surprised sound that is only overwritten a moment later by a drawn-out moan from the younger man’s parted lips.

“Ah, Bucky-“ Steve’s words are barely coherent, jumbled moans that the demon more than a little understands the depths of the meanings of. He knows exactly what the blond is trying to say, for it’s obvious in their throbbing bond, and the way the younger man’s body writhes on top of him; unable to hold himself up with the lightning intensity that sparks from within, only growing with each drag of the demon’s cock inside of his silky walls. “Mmm, please,” he whines, a hand reaching up from Bucky’s pectorals to grasp his shoulder, as if that mere action can help the blond ground himself. The dark class is the solid roots Steve desperately needs to keep himself steady, otherwise just like a tree subjected to gales he would snap and rot in the torrential storm.

“I know, my love,” Bucky murmurs fondly, his hands upon the younger man’s back slipping down to gently grasp his slender waist with a controlled firmness. Every time that the demon grinds his own hips up, his palms move against the blond’s skin as Steve rocks back against Bucky’s cock, before gradually pressing into those calloused hands. It’s almost as if the demon is taking charge of every one of their movements, keeping the younger man exactly where he wants him so that he can bring pleasure to them both. The bonded pair keep to this tender rhythm as Steve’s breaths become huffed moans upon the fiend’s throat, pre-come staining a clouded trail along Bucky’s rigid abdomen, slickening the muscles there.

It’s all far more intense than Steve faintly recalls. Even though last time, they had both felt this impending change- of death coming right for them as the mission beckoned them forth. Right now, instead of feeling time creeping up on them, there’s nothing but pure relief. They have defeated death, they are together, and now there’s nothing that could possibly tear them apart. Bucky may be strong, but so is Steve in his own right… even though he’s yet to discover exactly what he is capable of. But he will learn, for time has now slowed, as if the batteries of their clock are gradually dying out. Though the final _tick tock_ of their love will never come.

Steve has to suppress an urgent gasp, for more than the rubbing pelts under his shins, he can feel Bucky’s pleasure mixed with his own as their pace quickens. Just slightly, but it’s enough to coerce a bolt of ecstasy to swirl right down his spine into the warmth of his groin. Although there is no one else around for miles across the seemingly endless forest to hear their uttered sounds of gratification, the only noises of indulgence echoing around them are quiet, muffled moans and the slick of Bucky’s cock dragging along the blond’s innermost walls.

Bucky wants to find that place inside the younger man that will have him screaming out in ecstasy, his body surely trembling with the insane pleasure. But with the angle they’re currently rocking into each other, the demon cannot do that, not with the blond laying firmly on his broad chest. Metallic hand retreating from the cadet’s slim, blushing form, Bucky places his palm upon the velvety furs beside him before gradually sitting up. A protesting groan slips past the blond’s lips, though it quickly turns into an indulgent moan as the demon’s cock only seats deeper inside him. Sliding his arms to entwine around Bucky’s neck to keep him impossibly close, his fingers dig into the taut flesh of the demon’s shoulders. His unrestrained touch forms tiny crescent marks that fade as soon as his nails scrape and clutch at another part of the expanse of the fiend’s back.

Like this, Bucky can at last allow his wings to tenderly wrap around the blond, as if afraid that such wings of darkness may cut through that amber aura and force it to dissipate into the air right in front of his silver eyes. Coarse black feathers caress pale skin, the soft tips brushing against the bumps of the younger man’s vertebrae, smoothing over the angles of his shoulder blades. Steve’s form is entirely enveloped by the shadows cast by those colossal wings that block out the orbs of purple light that surround their linked bodies. Every stroke of feathers against his sensitive spine and the goose bumps of his arms has shivers jolting through his every cell. A needy, guttural moan of pleasure leaves rosy lips, that sound vibrating in the demon’s own chest as a wave of Steve’s pleasure washes over him, as if someone had just opened the floodgates of their ecstasy.

They remain unmoving, only the slight shift of sleek feathers rustling within the otherwise frozen chamber of darkness and flickers of light. It’s almost too perfect, as if something is just waiting for their walls to fall, to then pounce and send their world into a whirlwind of chaos. Chaos that may just become far more personal than they realise. But for the time being, they are both in the shadows of the unknown where their future is concerned. Of course, they both know exactly which path they would like to venture down, but sometimes, the choices one wants to make, aren’t an option. Not in their near future, though perhaps it’s a possibility after a task that beckons them both forth. A final mission as it were. For the journey does not end after defeating death. Life still calls to them, and despite this moment of pure happiness woven with infinite forgiveness and flames of pleasure, there will come a time once more where their love will have to face a war.

“Think you can move with me, beautiful?” Bucky whispers, tilting his head to press a comforting kiss upon Steve’s cheek bone, slightly damp from his earlier tears of relief.

After a timid nod against the demon’s bulky shoulder, droopy eyes meet silver orbs as the blond lifts his head from his little burrow against the fiend’s neck. One arm securely looped around Bucky’s shoulders, Steve uses the hold as he shuffles slightly, spreading his kneeling feet further; the demon’s own legs are parted to bend his knees slightly, keeping them up from the pelts to give his hips more room to eventually move. Steve takes advantage of the position, leaning his other hand back to rest on Bucky’s steady thigh, just before the hardness of his knee. Bowing his back towards his lover, the new angle has Steve feeling even more exposed than before. As if he’s on display to the being of darkness who watches him with nothing but affection, and a stormy passion as a metallic palm rests solidly on the pelts behind him, while his right fingers curl around the blond’s hip. Almost as if to help his little warrior retain his balance… especially with the knowledge of how weak the younger man can become when the shivers of ecstasy wreck through him sweetly.

Bucky cannot help but admire the view on top of him: of a flushed blond taking the demon’s cock so prettily as Steve’s own drips pre-come along his smaller length. Fluid that paints the taut muscles of Bucky’s abdomen already as if he were a blank canvas for Steve to mar with pure pleasure. The demon is so entranced, that he can only let out a raspy moan as the blond slowly began to grind his hips back and forth, getting used to the unfamiliar position. Biting the rosy flesh of his lower lip, Steve finally compelled his body to ever so slightly lift from the demon’s cock, rolling up before allowing his weight to force himself back down to meet Bucky’s rising hips. It takes them a few tries of prolonged grinding and gentle thrusts for them to find the rhythm that suits them. Once they have that pace, their bodies seem to innately move in sync as their love making quickens to become a fraction more forceful.

A sudden rough jerk of Bucky’s hips has Steve throwing his head back with an uncontrollable moan that bursts from his throat as the round head of the demon’s cock rubbed against his prostate. Lips parted as his heart thumps off-beat, it takes every ounce of willpower for Steve’s lashes to part to clearly reveal blue orbs as he tilts his head forward to look right into silver eyes. The ecstasy fizzing within his cells is so clearly swirling in those ocean irises that darken as if a storm was quickly approaching.

The younger man looks right at him, ensuring that he has Bucky’s full focus before a deep moan twisted from his wet lips. It’s like a siren’s call, and Bucky feels as if he’s drowning. That purely wanton and entrancing moan that the dark class can still hear urges him to continue these harsher thrusts with every other roll of the younger man’s hip; the sound of their skin smacking against each other is rather erotic as it blends into the groans of bliss between them. Whimpers and high-pitched whines are only added to the melody of their lovemaking as the demon’s thick length continues to brush against that spot inside of the blond. That part buried within himself that drives the burning heat in his chest, akin to a spreading forest fire as a white-hot sensation sparks down his spine and between his splayed legs.

But there’s something he needs to say as the pleasure builds up like a rising dam that threatens to rupture. Something that needs to flow from between swollen lips from desperate kisses as Steve maintains this heavy gaze of theirs. For it’s as if they’re both being drawn into the other, like two dense black holes only merging more and more until they become one. Then the world around them would surely ripple in an explosion of combined pleasure.

“I-I love you,” Steve stutters, barely able to gasp the words out. Those whirlpool irises begin to well and glisten with fresh tears, for this ecstasy is almost too much to bear. It’s too _intense._   It’s as if Steve is both being torn apart and put back together anew again. It’s all his heart has ever truly yearned for. His beloved demon… that darkness is all he needs. To submerge himself within it and allow those shadows to consume his own light. Bucky is who his soul has been waiting for. Aching for. Just as the demon craved that amber aura for far longer than Steve realises. “Bucky, I love you so much. I love you. I love you. I love-“ The blond’s voice only becomes louder with each cried out word as if he couldn’t possibly speak them quick enough, every ounce of overwhelming emotions a torrent in his heart. But Steve doesn’t have to say anything, regardless of feeling the need to do so. Their bond already relays to the other what it is that their hearts contain, and what every cell in their bodies feel.

“Shh, I know, Steve. I love you too,” the demon coos, words caught on a raspy grunt as his muscles tighten beneath his skin like hard rope with each pleasure-inducing movement full of devotion. Bucky would face death a thousand times if it would mean he could hold the blond safely in his arms for the rest of eternity. Would experience the darkness of his past again and again as those ghosts became real once more. The demon would face his fears time after time... just for Steve’s smile to remain. “More than anything.”

“Bucky. Ah, _ah_ ,” the blond whines, only for that sound to echo into a breathless moan. The silky furs scratch at the pale flesh of his legs, this new body subjected to too much stimulation at once as feathers caress slim shoulders. His abdomen feels like fireworks are going off inside of him, those golden embers produced burning his sensitive skin. Glowing hotter and hotter and yet Steve can only endure it until the orb of gratification finally bursts. The blond only needs that little bit more to push him over the edge. “I’m close.” _So close…_ Everything feels _so good._ Being connected to his lover in such a way is nothing short of paradise. Despite how naïve of a view that may seem, it is nothing but the truth.

“Me too,” Bucky admits on an exhale, his breaths becoming more akin to rough pants as the pace of his taut hips quicken. The demon can feel the blond’s heat clenching around his thick length, only forcing his cock to rub against those silk-rose walls. The spark-producing friction sends waves of warmth through his cock into the very base of his abdomen with each lift and roll of his hips, the sounds of their desperate lovemaking filling the dimly lit chamber more fiercely. “Steve. I’m… I’m real close.”

The younger man himself can barely speak. His moans have forced his voice to become dry and raspy, his thighs quivering, struggling to meet Bucky’s unrelenting thrusts that are becoming almost too much. Every time that bulbous head slicked with lube and pre-come hits that electrifying spot inside him, Steve’s lips can do nothing but remain parted as reverberations of his moan leave his throat. Blue orbs become hidden by dark, fluffy lashes, only occasionally peeking out to find himself gazing up at the rutted ceiling of their own little, safe nest. His mind is being washed away by this pleasure, clearing it into a blank slate.

All Bucky’s mind can comprehend, is his beloved beneath his touch, watching him as if nothing else could possibly steal the demon’s attention. No glimmering crystal, no warm sun, no freedom… Nothing could get the dark class to cast his heavy stare from the cadet. Not in times like this, where all he wants to do -all that they both want to do- is give the other pleasure. And perhaps rather selfishly, have the other in their unyielding embrace. They are the opposite poles of two magnets. Though not even a great power could ever hope of forcing them apart. They will always return, for this innate attraction they feel was written in the rules of the universe. But unlike the pull of magnets, their love is not something that can be explained.

A high-pitched gasp escaping the younger man’s bitten lips, Steve tries to fight through this flood of pleasure that he can no longer quite keep from exploding like an indescribable, volcanic heat. The blond finds those silver orbs that for a second appear hazy to him, though his eyes are half-lidded as they try to fight this battle within himself. Trying to keep his orgasm at bay, for he yearns to hold on. For this moment to never end. But it must; life outside of these cave walls beckon to them both. But at least for now, they can achieve the height of their ecstasy as one. Locking their gazes together, Steve’s voice is barely a whisper. Just a ghost of words on his breath, but the demon hears them. Oh, how he hears them. _“Come inside me.”_

“Are you su-“ Bucky’s hesitant words are immediately cut off by the younger man’s exclaimed cries.

“Yes! Please!” Steve can’t even begin to fathom any complications or repercussions. There surely could not be any, not that he would be able to bring himself to care. All that he knows, is that he needs to be filled with his lover’s seed. _Now._ As proof of them both reaching this immeasurable bliss all at once. To share their love and ecstasies through their bond and have undeniable proof of such an act within his innermost walls. It’s an almost primal need… This desire to be _claimed_ by his demon, his beloved, his Bucky… “Fuck. I’m gonna come,” Steve gasps, his breaths shaky and words raspy, his limbs quivering as that indescribable heat inside him matures and threatens to rupture at any moment. _“Bucky… Bucky… Bucky!”_

 _“Steve,”_ the demon echoes gruffly, feeling his lover’s warmth tighten around his cock, as if the bonded pair were truly melding into a single entity. Becoming one like two separate flames that only burn brighter together. The tempo of their lovemaking changes, the demon’s thrusts becoming almost hasty, and yet ever the more deeper at the very same time. It’s becoming more desperate, both of them needing this inevitable, white-hot release. But their once purposefully executed movements have turned to something raw and uncontrolled as the blond struggles to hold his position as he bounces on the demon’s thick cock with the force of his loving thrusts.

“Bucky, _please,”_ Steve begs, what he desires unclear to anyone who may have heard such a cry, all except for his demon, who understands as if he was the one who planted such a need deep within the blond’s core.

The way Steve looks at him, blue pools glossed over, his entire body tinted with a cherry-blossom blush. With one hand gripping onto the blond’s jutting hipbone, Bucky can only admire him as that pretty pink cock of his bobs against the demon’s abdomen, dripping pre-come like a constant stream. Golden locks have become damp with sweat, droplets of which crawl down the bumps of his spine as hot, invisible cloudy breaths leave swollen lips. His little warrior is the utter picture of perfection.

It isn’t long until they both reach the heights of ecstasy, merely a few more heavy thrusts later. Their names are on each other’s tongues as they reach their climax and fall right over the edge of pleasure where they meet once again. It is Bucky whose bottled-up desire unleashes first inside of his lover’s clenching warmth, hips jolting once until seating himself firmly within silky depths, calloused fingers upon a pale hip are sure to leave purple marks in their wake. Steve instantly felt as if his body was on fire when he registered Bucky’s heated seed spilling inside him, a fierce electricity sparking within his loins. It’s nothing like Steve has ever felt before. Not like this. It forces him to finally let go of his release just a mere second later. His thick come smears the demon’s abdomen in splashes of white, overwhelmed by the pure sensation of being completely full of his lover, and the sheer pleasure that courses through their gratified bond. Their combined ecstasy radiates between them in colossal waves that refuse to dwindle and fade. And in that moment, their bond truly cements, unbreakable and more intense than ever.

Clenching muscles relax as a few final white droplets cascade from the head of Steve’s cock onto his beloved’s abdomen. Almost as if he was marking the demon with his own sheer pleasure. Unable to find it within himself to hold his quaking form up, the blond slides his trembling hands to entangled around Bucky’s shoulders, bringing their foreheads tenderly together as Bucky’s hands plant themselves at the dip of the smaller man’s spine. Steve’s uncontrolled panting fills the humid air between them as they both come down from their incredible high. Blue orbs stare soulfully into silver ones, reminding him of the surface of daggers glinting in the light. But then, neither of them can quite stop the content smiles that creep onto their swollen lips, the corners of their mouths creasing until becoming joined in a sweet, affectionate kiss. Pulling back after a tender few seconds, Steve presses his warm cheek against the demon’s chiselled jawline, breathing in that forest-like scent.

“That was,” the blond began, before drifting off, his heart still thrashing within his ribcage.

“Amazing?” Bucky offers with a sly grin. Steve laughed softly, nodding his head just a fraction to appease the dark class.

“I don’t think that word quite lives up to it, but sure,” he says teasingly, enveloping himself in the feel of his demon all around him… _inside_ him. Bucky chuckled in response, before nuzzling against the expanse of Steve’s throat, tasting the salty sweat gathered upon the pale surface.

After seemingly forever, Steve finally shuffles on his aching knees, squirming a little as he lifts himself from Bucky’s hips, and coincidently, his cock. The demon’s softening member slips from his twitching hole as Steve slid his leg over Bucky’s thighs to rest on his side next to him, propped up by soft palms against even softer furs. For surely now sleep will come easily to them both. A breathless, uncertain gasp escaped Steve’s throat as he felt Bucky’s warm release drip from his opening, gradually running down his inner thigh until the white path curves to stain the green pelt beneath him.

The demon raised a confused brow at the younger man, before an understanding crossed his expression. Leaning forward, the fiend planted the softest of kisses upon Steve’s shoulder, taking in the way the soft skin felt ever so smooth against his lips. One small hum sneaked out of the younger man’s chest, feeling nothing but loved and relaxed, at last not having to worry about any impending war that could change the fate of humanity itself. A yelp of surprised left the blond when he felt the demon running a dark piece of fabric over his sensitive opening and between his sticky legs. Nibbling his lower lip, Steve lowers his gaze instinctively as he watches the demon wipe his own chest and cock in his peripheral vision, before the cloth was discarded into the shadows of the room where it seemed to disintegrate into mere dust. The blond looked up in awe when he felt a coarse feather against his cheek, as if the demon himself were stroking the supple skin.

The rustle of graceful, predator-like movements catches the younger man’s attention as the wing that had brushed his skin settled onto the ground as the demon lay back upon the furs. When the fiend patted his chest invitingly, Steve hummed his approval as he snuggled against Bucky’s side, nestling his face into the crook of one muscular shoulder while he lifted his top leg to settle it between the demon’s.

A shiver surged through his weakened body, both overwhelmed by the feel of pelts and feathers caressing his naked form, and yet comforted by his lover’s touch as firm arms snake around him, holding him close. Steve’s right palm smooths over Bucky’s chest for a moment until coming to a stop right above that beating organ. The heart that only pulses for him. As self-centred as that may seem, it is only the truth.

“I think it’s my turn to say that I meant what I said to you,” Steve murmured against the demon’s skin, referring to how Bucky had confessed that his declaration of his love for Steve in the midst of war had be real, and heartfelt.

“Hm?” Bucky pressed a kiss to blond locks in confusion.

“That I forgive you.”

Steve could almost feel Bucky smiling as those strong arms tightened securely around him, coercing the younger man to press further into his heated skin. Not just the dark class, but the air feels oddly warm upon him, despite the beads of sweat trickling down his skin every so often that should give him that cooling sensation. But it never comes. Instead, it feels as if they’re floating on a soft cloud, the sun’s rays caressing them as sleep calls to tired minds, and the body not yet quite adapted to this realm.

“Shh, I know, my little warrior,” the demon soothes quietly, hushing the cadet fondly. “Rest now. I love you.”

“Mm, love you too,” Steve uttered, sure that his lover could perceive his exhaled words.

In the lilac glow of the cave, heavy with an atmosphere of pure love, and its physical expression, it isn’t long until shadows and amber fragments flutter as walls of the mind came crashing down with the feeling of content and safety flourish over them like pacifying flowers. But after a while, in such peaceful sleep, the bonded beings were unaware of the purple eyes at the entrance of what they’ve come to call home.


	5. Light Can Remove the Darkness That Weighs You Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter five here we are! It's up a bit later than I wanted it to be, but got caught up doing important charity work. I would imagine that chapter six will be uploaded the 16th September. But that week I'm actually moving back to university so life is going to become hectic for a little while again ahaha  
> So, yeah, I'm trying to build up a buffer, but how much of a buffer I will end up creating is very uncertain. But honestly though, you guys are amazing! I just can't express how wonderful you all are. And in less than 10 days, this series would have been published for two years... isn't that insane? That's just, unbelievable to me.  
> Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

A thin veil of shadows permeates the air of the dim chamber, illuminated only by soft orbs of fire that warm the cave that would otherwise feel like ice against exposed skin. Each breath the demon takes is filled with the sweet, flowery scent from the blond tucked against his flesh arm and the hard muscles of his chest. It’s a natural odour, and yet even with the fading taste of saltiness upon his pale skin, Steve still smells as if he’s just walked out of a thick, blossoming forest. As if the younger man was cast from nature itself. The demon never feels more at ease, than when Steve is next to him, sleeping soundly except from the occasional, soft snore pushing past those glistening lips. In such a moment, in a familiar setting that had served him well when death was chasing after him, Bucky rests peacefully -truly peacefully- for the first time since… Well, a very long time. It wouldn’t be foolish to say since the beginning.

Behind closed eyelids, concealing silver-flecked irises, Bucky is blessed with dreams of his lover. Or rather, he’s filled with blissful memories of their time together. Of delicate kisses and gentle touches over naked skin. Whispered words of affection and quiet laughter, endearing smiles… Just one look at Steve, and everything just feels _good._ As if the world and stars are perfectly aligned, and all of the problems of their past seem so insignificant. Nothing could be more right in those moments.

The blond shifted slightly in Bucky’s arms, sighing against the base of the demon’s throat before falling back into a deep slumber. The demon registers the movement, but remains content, his feathers ruffling faintly against the coloured pelts under them. Darkness had long since overtaken the world outside of this serene chamber. Or rather, the shadows of the night would be enveloping the land if it weren’t for the glow of vibrant tree leaves and the three moons that sit high in the sparkling sky, as if they had been pumped full of different luminescent rocks. But there is something else that glows outside of that cave, unbeknown to both warrior and demon. A silent entity, but a powerful one. An _ancient_ being.

A groan left Bucky’s throat, metallic fingers sliding down to the pelts from where they had settled upon slender knuckles that had planted themselves on his chest. His silver palm lays lax on the thick furs, before instinctively gripping the coloured hair, pulling at it just for a moment until the subconscious movement abruptly stops. A faint tingling sensation teases his shoulder, coercing his sleepy body to shrug one-sidedly as if brushing off a touch. The odd sensation leaves, his cells returning to their undisturbed state as if he had only imagined it all. But something isn’t quite right. Bucky’s clouded mind can’t quite place it until-

It’s as if his flesh is burning- a foreign fire charcoaling the skin in a fierce hunger. Bucky instinctively flexes the metallic plates of his arm to rid himself of this sensation… but it doesn’t work. He can’t shake it. The sting almost feels too real. As if thousands of thick needles are being embedded into the muscles of his shoulder, kneading down into his rib cage with a vengeance. And then… Oh, a pit of dread buried itself deep within his core. A fear of something he thought he had lost- eradicated, even. But right there in front of him, scowling down at him as if he were some petty insect caught in a vicious trap. A face morphed into the angles of a red skull staring at him with the menacing, cold eyes that have been the subject of his nightmares for years.

Ah, no. What he’s seeing right now isn’t a nightmare… but a _memory._ A memory of how he came to lose the arm that was once pure flesh and bone. The dark class can practically feel the knife sliced and rooted deep into his left shoulder, ripping his flesh piece by piece. The indescribable agony is sure to return in just a moment, as soon as the adrenaline wears off to leave him to defend himself against the pain on his own.

_“Bucky?”_

It’s a whisper of a tender voice, but the demon can’t pinpoint its location. All he can perceive is a silver glint in his hazy, peripheral vision otherwise marred in blue. As if catching sight of a lone shark in the depths of a vast ocean. The dark class can almost taste the blood on his tongue, and all at once, he feels dizzy. That feeling one gets when falling from somewhere of great height.

_“Bucky! Wake up, you’re dreaming!”_

Dark lashes snap apart to reveal glowing silver orbs. It takes Bucky a moment to register that the face he sees above him, is that of his worried lover. Steve looks down at him with creased brows and anxious lips, his palms pushing into the demon’s chest, as if hoping to ground the dark class and his once violently shifting form.

“Steve?” Bucky whispered, struggling to find his voice, as if it’s turned hoarse with erratic screaming.

“Yeah, it’s me,” the blond soothes, the pads of his fingers gently rubbing circles upon the expanse of Bucky’s chest, right above his thudding heart. “You were moving in your sleep. I think you were having a nightmare.”

“Of sorts…” The dark class grumbles in response, not quite ready to reveal that part of his history as of yet. Perhaps he never will be. It wouldn’t solve anything. In fact, it may only cause problems. Bucky doesn’t want the younger man to feel unease nor pity for the demon just because of a part of his past that he’s desperately trying to forget.

“Are you okay?” Steve asks, his anxiousness clear in his wavering voice. He’s knows what it’s like to have nightmares, though Bucky had inadvertently been the cause of those strange dreams as flickers of his memory became woven into the demon’s greatest fears. But surely with death defeated, Bucky should no longer have that crippling fear? At least, Steve sees no reason for them to live this life of theirs together while constantly looking over their shoulders. That would be mere survival, not _living._

“Mm, I am now seeing you,” Bucky hums, as if all of his uncertainties are solved with just one look into those blue pools swirling with affection. Though dark brows soon draw together as he realises he must have surely disturbed the blond’s sleep. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“I was awake anyway…” Steve admits in an attempt to reassure the demon, though it’s obvious that something is nagging at the younger man’s thoughts. Like little crows pecking at his mind, demanding attention. “I thought…” The cadet allows his words to drift off as he tries to figure out what to say without worrying the demon laying beside him. He doesn’t want Bucky to panic, for surely what Steve thinks is wrong anyway... Right?

“Hm?” Bucky encourages the younger man to continue, at a loss as to what ails his lover. For as far as the dark class is concerned, there’s nothing for Steve to be upset or bothered about. Not now, anyway. Well, Bucky supposes it would be naïve of him to assume that the blond would quickly forget about the life he left behind in the human realm. And most of all, the people that meant so much to him that were left to mourn his supposed _death._

“I thought I sensed someone,” Steve admits quietly, seemingly uncertain of what he had felt. It’s as if his mind had been playing tricks on him, making the cadet uncertain of what is real, and what is merely a product of his imagination. It’s akin to the sensation of walking in a dark forest and perceiving that _snap_ of a twig- one can never be too sure whether it’s just merely the voice of the woodland, or something lurking within it. “But when I woke up, everything was quiet. The lights were out, though. Ah, still are, actually,” Steve corrects himself.

Bucky looked around at that, hawk-like gaze searching for those lilac orbs of fire he had put in place to illuminate their little nest. A place that the dark class used to feel so lonely in, except now he has someone to share this entire realm with. But those calming spheres are nowhere in sight, as if they had been enveloped by darkness itself- becoming one with the shadows around them.

“How long ago?” The demon questions, unable to tell when his power had retracted the flames back into his fizzing cells.

“Not that long. Just before you started having that nightmare, I think,” the blond revealed quietly, unsure of whether the topic of Bucky’s dreams is a sensitive one or not. The cadet doesn’t want to risk upsetting his demon further by bringing it up. Though it would be a lie to say that he isn’t curious about it.

“I’ll put them back,” he declares, hauling himself up with an achy grunt. Steve sat back down on his haunches against the pelts, listening to the slight rustle of Bucky moving amongst the shadows like a deadly hunter. There’s something about knowing that his demon is enveloped in this darkness with him that makes the black mass far less frightening. For Steve understands that with Bucky so close, he can only ever be safe.

A faint _click_ could be heard faintly under the demon’s skin when he rolled his left shoulder, the limb feeling a little stiff as Bucky wandered to the alcoves intermittently lining the chamber. Flesh fingers hovering within the cavern indents, bit by bit, their tranquil nest becomes illuminated in that soft lilac hue. A pleasant hum low in his throat, the demon turns back around to cast his fond gaze onto the younger man, not wanting to be apart from him for too long, even if they’re in the very same room. The dark class merely yearns to hold the blond against him as much and for as long as he possibly can. As if that might erase the memory of when Steve died in his arms…

The demon abruptly halts in place when he comprehends those blue eyes staring wide at him, plump lips slightly agape. Bucky raises one dark eyebrow that goes seemingly hand in hand with his question. “What is it?” Surely nothing could be wrong? The dark class doesn’t want Steve to be worried about anything, but the way he’s looking at Bucky, the demon feels as if there’s something very wrong concerning the fiend himself.

“Bucky… Your arm,” Steve exclaims softly, as if he can’t quite believe what he’s seeing.

Silver orbs instantly go to his left arm as he lifts the tingling limb to rest in the air in front of him. Turning his hand over, twisting his wrist, Bucky flexes the metallic plates as he takes in it’s altered appearance. Although a deep silver, glimmering in the purple lights, the arm is no longer marred with the red star of his betrayal to death. Instead, the sensitive plates are not embedded with shadows, but a more vibrant hue like rivers of gold. Instead of darkness coursing through the limb, it’s as if… _life_ is within it. The incredibly strong metal made of sheer _good_ rather than _bad._ If Steve wasn’t right there, if he hadn’t pointed it out himself, then the demon wouldn’t believe what he’s seeing.

“I thought I was imagining things…” The blond suddenly murmured, snapping the fiend’s attention away from the transformed limb.

“What?”

“I thought…” Steve’s voice is barely a whisper, his stare cast down to inspect the luxurious furs, as if they held the answers between soft hairs and specks of dried come and lubricant from their lovemaking. “I thought I saw eyes.” In fact, the blond is _convinced_ that eyes were exactly what he saw. But this time, different from those surreal nightmares, the orbs hadn’t been watching him, but his _demon._ Observing him from the entrance to the chamber, until after a few moments, they had disappeared into the shadows. As if those eyes had blinked, and never reopened, but merely _vanished._

“Eyes?”

Steve nods in response, as if he’s just as confused as the demon at the mere prospect. For surely the cave cannot be accessed by any being other than Bucky? And certainly, the dark class would have noticed someone entering their cosy abode? At least, Steve desperately hopes that is the truth.

“Purple ones…” The younger man reveals quietly, before a huff of anxious laughter left his scratchy throat. “Usually when I see eyes in the dark I’m afraid, but I wasn’t this time. Honestly, I thought I was dreaming myself.” It had all felt so surreal. And for once, his heart did not beat erratically as if he were about to be tortured before being slaughtered like a lamb. No… the soldier had been calm, as if his body knew that the presence meant him no harm. That there was no need at all for him to ever feel afraid, regardless of the fact that his demon was laying right beside him.

“The Empress,” Bucky murmured, as if he’s in an unbreakable trance.

“Who?” Steve quickly looked up, head tilting at the familiar name. Or is it perhaps more of a title? The cadet can’t be sure, especially considering how novel he is to this complex, demonic realm. There’s still so, so much for him yet to learn. Seemingly an infinite amount. But in this body of his, it’s not as if he’s on a count down until decay. “You mentioned that name before… When I first woke up in this realm.” Steve vaguely recalls it, for back then his mind had been in disarray, like a new-born unsure of the new world around it.

“Yes… She helped me,” Bucky admits quietly, clenching metallic fingers and watching how the surface shines, untainted by blood- even the ghost of it.

“By giving me this body?” The younger man questions, though if anything, all he’s doing is making guesses. In all honesty, everything in this realm makes very little sense to him. As if even this inhuman mind of his can’t comprehend it all. The thought of someone _making_ him a body is… still a very strange idea to him, one that seems almost impossible. _Almost,_ for Steve likes to keep an open mind about the world he awakened in. At least in that regard, he won’t be taken by surprise when the impossible becomes his reality. “Who exactly is she? She sounds so powerful…”

“The Empress is the most powerful demon in the entire realm,” the dark class explains, unashamed to admit such a thing despite his pride. It would be foolish to even _compare_ his own abilities, to those of the Empress.

“And why would she help you?” Steve’s head tilts in confusion, like a puppy struggling to understand something as the wheels in his brain turn and turn. From what the blond knows of demons, they are not exactly kind creatures. There’s always a calculated reason behind everything they do, Bucky being no different. But being bonded with the dark class, Steve is also aware of the hidden side to fiends: that part of them capable of _loving._ Surely Bucky is not the only one in the entire two realms who would do something solely for another?

“There was a price for her help.” The dark class steps closer, trying to refrain from staring at his arm, for when he looks at it, registering that Schmidt’s imprint is no longer embedded into his flesh… he feels so _relieved._ As if a tremendous weight has been lifted from his broad shoulders. As if there are no longer ghosts nibbling away at his insides. They’re gone- extinguished. Bucky can only hope that it remains that way. At least for a little while, so he can lose himself in his lover’s presence without distractions that come from within his own mind.

“What did you have to do?” Steve demands anxiously. For as far as he is aware, Bucky could have been made to do something dreadful, or even perilous. The blond doesn’t want the demon to put his life on the line just for the cadet.

“I haven’t paid the price yet. It is something we _both_ have to do.”

“What is it?” He says, mimicking Bucky’s earlier words.

“I will tell you about it soon. You still have to get used to this body.” Though it’s not just the younger man’s body he’s concerned with, but his mind too. Bucky doesn’t want to give Steve futile hope when he finally comes to learn that what the Empress requests, will require them to journey back to the human realm. “She is fine with waiting until you are ready.”

“I don’t like the sound of this. It sounds _dangerous_.” Those worrisome thoughts are to be expected, considering the last mission they went on, Steve _died,_ and the demon himself had been injured at the hands of death. “When there’s a price to pay, there’s usually suffering.” Whether it be battles to win a war, or a favour in return for a life.

“It’s fine, I will protect you,” Bucky insists, more determined of this than anything else. He will _not_ lose Steve again. Just the mere thought of him getting just the smallest bit hurt has a ball of fiery rage thrashing between his ribs.

“But you don’t need to, right? As long as you live, I shall too,” Steve attempts to comfort the demon, though uncertain if his words will reach him, despite blue eyes staring up into silver orbs as he tries to convey to the demon _‘I’m not going anywhere, not without you…’_ The blond’s gaze suddenly falls just a fraction in contemplation, for there’s still something he can’t quite work out. “But I don’t understand,” he admits softly, golden brows drawing closer in puzzlement.

“What?” The demon’s head cocks to the side, for a moment forgetting that there is still much that Steve doesn’t know. Even concerning his own existence.

“This.” Steve reaches up to trace his fingers along metallic knuckles, the plates remarkably warm to the touch, though the blond doesn’t retract his hand, only presses it more firmly.

“I think it’s a gift…” Bucky says, twisting his wrist to entwine their fingers together, palm against palm, the faint _whirr_ of the sensors picking up every line of the cadet’s hand.

“A gift?” The blond echoes.

“To help me forget what Schmidt has done to me,” Bucky explains carefully, choosing his words wisely, as if wary of revealing such weakness his mind contained. “It’s a way for me to move forward.” No longer will he be reminded of all the things the death class did to him every time he glimpses the shiny plates of his arms… and the invisible stains of blood that had coated it.

“Why would she do that when she already expects something of us?” Surely to give more before having received anything in return doesn’t make sense? Not unless one doesn’t expect something in return for certain things. A gift… that’s one way of putting it. But it doesn’t make the cadet any less confused. Especially considering that they’re talking about a _demon._ A demon who Steve had previously never heard anything of before. The blond doesn’t even know what to speculate about her. For not even an earth class demon are capable of the creation of _bodies_ for souls to become embedded in. It all just seems so surreal. Enough that the Empress sounds like some being out of a fairy tale. Then again, what does Steve, or even humanity, know of demons and their realm? Demonologists had barely even breeched the surface before Steve submitted his journal for the world to see.

“I don’t know,” Bucky confessed ever so quietly. However, in the silence of the cave, the blond heard it clearly.

“She sounds… kind. Understanding,” Steve muses in thought. There’s not much that could explain her actions. The Empress seems human. _Almost_. For there are humans with far less kindness in their hearts. “You know her well?” The blond guessed, only for such a notion to be turned down as the demon squeezed their hands a fraction.

“I know little about her.”

“But she seems to care about you?” His words are spoken as if they are a question, rather than a hesitant statement. But his doubts bring about another query- one which Steve desperately needs Bucky to answer. “What exactly is she to you?” Steve knows it would be foolish of him to suppose that she was Bucky’s lover of any sort, he knows better than to think that. But from what the dark class has told him about his shadowed past, it seems implausible for her to be Bucky’s friend of sorts.

The demon took a long while, wracking his brain for the appropriate response. Bucky recalls what he had discovered when he had searched for her, to ask her to give Steve life again. And in the weeks that it took for his little warrior’s body to develop, he came to the realisation of exactly why the Empress treated him with such consideration. And why he remembers her purple eyes as being the very first thing in his hazy memory of more than eight hundred years ago. When his conscious mind first came about. When he himself was first given life. “My _creator.”_

“Your creator? You mean, your mother?” Steve questions, more than a little perplexed by such a thought.

For longer than Bucky has existed, scientists have been trying to figure out how demons are brought into existence. Through intense, invasive experiments and theories, scientists have been trying to prove that demons are capable of producing offspring. Yet after all this time, they haven’t even been close. Although demons (mainly seducers) have been known to have sex with humans, there have been no reported cases of either humans or demons becoming pregnant. Even with artificial conception in labs, no egg has been successfully fertilised. Which begs the question of either demon genders being far more complex than first thought, or that there’s something that scientists are just missing out of the equation altogether. Because of successive failures, many have proposed the idea of asexual reproduction of sorts, and that the presence of external and internal sexual organs in humanoid forms merely have no used except as an aid to blend into the human population. Though even this wouldn’t explain the presence of eggs or sperm in the true form of demons, nor the existence of a small group of hermaphrodites within the demon population,

“I suppose so,” Bucky utters, unsure of how else to explain it.

“She gave birth to you?” The blond automatically asks, unable to hold back his curiosity.

“No.” Bucky shakes his head slightly. “I was made in a different way to normal demons.”

“So what exactly is _normal?”_ One blond brow raised in confusion, Steve tightens his hand on metallic plates, feeling their warmth seeping into him. Along his wrist within his veins, the cells of his arm to then pool lovingly into his chest. “I mean, you mentioned _mating_ before _,_ so surely pregnancy is a thing for demons, right?”

“Yes. Though it’s more complex than mere conception for humans,” Bucky discloses, turning his silver gaze away in a portrayal of embarrassment.

“How so?”

“Do I really need to explain?”

Steve hummed teasingly in reply. Amused by the demon’s almost whining manner. “Maybe not right now… Though I will pester you again about it,” the younger man jests, the truth laced into his words before becoming a fraction more serious. “About the mission too.”

“I know you will, my little warrior,” Bucky chuckles fondly. He expects no less of his little warrior. Especially when he knows that stubbornness of his well. Perhaps too well.

The demon’s head tilts to the side, taking note of the slight stickiness glistening between Steve’s thighs. The bonded pair could both certainly do with washing up properly, though it’s not as if this home of theirs contains a built-in shower in the cave walls. With a moment of thought, Bucky gently pulls their entwined hands apart, a small smile resting on his lips. Steve can only grin sweetly in response, until his expression fell as the demon cupped his own hands together in front of him, before stretching them apart. Blue orbs widen as a thin, black mass spreads between the demon’s hands, akin to a blanket made of shadows. Well, Steve supposes that’s exactly what it is.

“Here, wrap this round you,” he says, bringing the long material to rest across Steve’s shoulders. The blond takes the edges tentatively, curling it more firmly around him as the silky fabric caressed the lower part of his thighs. “I know someplace close where we can bathe.”

“Ah, that sounds like a good idea,” Steve laughs softly, shifting onto his knees before standing up. Though the tiny smile that had appeared on his lips quickly morphs into a slight frown. “What about clothes?”

“I’ll bring them.” Bucky smirks almost devilishly as tendrils of shadows wormed out of the ground to entwine around their discarded clothes, the fabrics quickly fading into a dense mist that filters into the darkness. “Are you okay to walk? The area is about a, uh, mile. I think that is the distance for humans.”

“Mmm, I’m good, actually.” Perhaps it wouldn’t be foolish to say that Steve has never felt better. Although this body of his is supposedly new, it doesn’t feel foreign to him, as if it was made specifically for him- and in reality, it was. But it’s as if he’s always lived in this form, grown in this very body. He’s not overcome with the feeling as if he’s not in his own skin. But there is something different about this body, though the blond merely can’t place it. “Really good.” Steve may feel _used_ in the best possible way, with his demon’s dry come tainting the backs of his thighs from where the remains of his release had dripped during their slumber, but he feels ever so _loved._ Cherished, even, and it’s the best feeling. However, there’s also this sensation of being more refreshed, as if everything is as it should be now that the bonded pair cemented their love in combined ecstasy. Though that still doesn’t erase the fragment of embarrassment Steve feels at how he had desperately voiced his needs to the demon and lost himself in the pleasure Bucky was giving him.

“This way, then, my little warrior,” the demon urges, one muscular arm snaking around Steve’s waist while a coarse wing settles against the younger man’s back. But before the dark class could even lead him one single step towards the entrance of the cave, the cadet was halting in place.

“Wait! You’re going out like that?” Steve tries his best to hide his mortified state, his cheeks turning flush as his eyes look to anywhere but at his demon’s naked form.

“There’s no one but you and I around. It’s not as if it’s going to take too long to get to the place either.” Bucky shrugs, not the least bit embarrassed. The demon isn’t ashamed of his body, for if there’s one thing that demons lack compared to most of the human population it’s modesty in terms of appearances.

“What about the Empress?”

“She’s no longer here… I would know,” the demon says, a hint of uncertainty wavering in his tone. Steve isn’t so sure about that either. After all, Bucky hadn’t sensed her when they had slept atop silky furs. As if there’s something concealing her existence, and the sheer, unimaginable power that her every cell contains. Bucky should have at least sensed something, but he had been lost in his dreams. Though the dark class should know by now that if the Empress doesn’t want to be found, then she won’t be.

Steve nods slightly, wrapping the blanket more tightly around him as he allowed the demon to herd him out of the chamber into the warm morning- at least, the blond believed it to be morning. In reality, the younger man has absolutely no clue as to how time works in this realm. Bucky always referred to things as being in ‘human time’, suggesting that the days, months and years are rather different in the Netherworld.

There’s the faintest breeze running through the cave that tickles his golden strands against his skin, but otherwise they are basked in a heavenly glow that fades as they divert down a slope, abandoning the river that runs through the cave. Steve was about to ask why they were journeying deeper into the hillside, when he finally caught sight of a vibrant light at the bottom of the tunnel that seemed to close in on them, almost forcing them apart until-

Steve squints, his eyes briefly adjusting to the intrusive light of the small clearing that met the trim edge of the woodland area. The different curved and thickening trunks reaching up into outstretched branches act as a shield for the forest to the sun, casting it into a dim hue. As Bucky guides him down an invisible path, the grass and mossy undergrowth prickle his feet as they quietly travel through the jungle. Steve automatically expected to hear the cheerful song of birds or the chirp of insects, but instead, only the sounds of their footsteps echo around them. In a way, it’s rather eerie, knowing that they are the only two beings around, as if the bonded pair are in their own little world. A world that Steve never thought he would see. A world that no one had even imagined, at least not in any way that was the truth of this realm. It’s beautiful, and there’s still so, so much for him to yet explore… providing that Bucky allows him to see it.

Though unbeknown to the blond, danger lurks in the shadows. Just waiting for the chance to rip him apart…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **QUESTION** for you wonderful readers: to celebrate TDB series being up for two years, I was thinking of perhaps doing a little something to get you guys involved? 
> 
> 1\. Q&A session on the Tumblr/IG accounts, where I'll answer (some, or if there even are any hahaha) personal questions, and/or some non-spoiler questions about the series?  
> OR  
> 2\. A mini 'Design a Netherworld Creature' competition (if there are enough people wanting to do this) where the winner would have their creature written into the story. (Submissions would be allowed to be either drawings with a mini description, or a detailed description of the creature's traits).
> 
> Thoughts on this? Let me know below! ❤︎ :)


	6. Even in A Place of Serenity, Danger Lurks in the Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To celebrate two years since the first story was released, I've decided to do a *Design Competition*, where you can create your own demon character/Netherworld creature, and the winner will have their creature or character written into the story!! There will be more information about this at the end of this chapter, though the same information is also available to read on The Demon Bond IG/Tumblr accounts. :) Thank you all for your support these past two years, it has meant the world to me! ❤︎ ❤︎

“Bucky, are we close?”

The bonded pair had been walking for about twenty minutes now, at least that was Steve’s guess. It’s a peculiar sensation not having his watch to constantly check the time; to not have to worry about the seconds ticking away until they could no longer be alone together. Here in the Netherworld, there’s no reason for them to part. No war for them to prepare for. No having to be quiet in the dead of night, where they would rather be making love, moaning each other’s name. It’s just _peaceful,_ and nothing short of pure bliss. More than ever, Steve feels connected to the dark class, as if their bond is something far stronger here than it was ever capable of back in the human realm. If that’s at all possible. Steve has absolutely no idea… it’s just something that he _feels,_ and in that sense, _knows._

“Almost there, it’s just through these bushes here.” Bucky gestures to the golden thicket of tall golden shrubs adorned with shiny, pink berries that practically beg to be consumed.

Gazing at the strange fruit, Steve half expected his stomach to rumble and growl, but it does no such thing. He feels full, despite not having eaten anything in this new body of his. And even after their night of passion, Steve doesn’t feel the desire to drink anything. Actually, the blond feels healthier and more alive in this body than he could of ever in his previous one, despite medical intervention and the days spent trying to make himself stronger. Steve is almost convinced that he’ll suddenly wake up in a hospital bed, an adolescent with a vivid imagination and the desire to change the world.

The demon carefully nudges him through an opening within the wall of gold, and Steve had to almost instantly crease his eyes as the ethereal light threatened his vision. But the moment his eyes adjusted to take in the view of the large clearing he’s stumbled upon, the blond’s steps falter as his lips part in awe. The grass here is like nothing Steve has ever seen before, the thin blades taking on a rich violet shade that tickles all the way up to his knees. However, it is not the dominating colour across the landscape. No, it wasn’t what caught his attention first. What did, was the stretch of a glistening lake, its calm waters glittering a milky pink. The lake was longer than it was wide, though curved inwards and out in various places to give it an odd shape. Steve cast his gaze around to find the source of the water, though he could see no river leading into the area, nor away from it.

The blond turns to address the demon with a curious expression as his lips prepare to announce dozens of questions. “What makes it-.“ The blond’s jaw quickly shuts when he caught sight of the loving smile embedded into his demon’s features. A smile he could only find himself returning. “What?” Steve giggles, a faint blush warming his cheeks as a flutter of embarrassment overcame him.

“Nothing, my little warrior. Nothing at all.” Bucky hums, reaching out to gently lift the blanket from around the blond’s shoulders. The dark class caught the younger man glancing nervously over his shoulder, and so with fabric pooling around their feet, Bucky cupped pink cheeks within his palms. “It’s just us here,” the demon coos, planting a chaste kiss to the tip of Steve’s nose.

“I know,” Steve grumbles, his plump lips contorted in a pout that swiftly broke out into a wide grin just a second later.

“Come now, the water will be warm,” the demon declares, taking one of Steve’s hands in his own as he twirls the younger man around to face the pool of pink. Then, finally, Bucky guides him to the embankment, each step taken backwards to allow his focus to remain on those blue eyes watching him in glee.

“Warm?” Steve questions, the pair beginning this sort of dance; each step the demon takes back, Steve takes forward with a smile. As they got closer, Bucky’s wings contracted, tightening against his back as bones and feathers folded to be concealed beside his spine beneath his flesh. Mesmerised, the blond doesn’t register the shudder that coursed through his own body at the breeze that met his naked form.

“Even in the dead of night.”

Steve finds that hard to really grasp, for surely the water must eventually become cool? Then again, for all he knows perhaps the water here is different to that in the human realm. It could be that the liquid retains heat more easily, or maybe there’s something deep within the earth beneath it that’s responsible? There’s so many varying possibilities… but he forgets all that the very second his toes grace the water’s surface.

“Ah,” Steve gasps, surprise embedded into his features as Bucky tugged him further into the water that laps at his ankles. Slowly ghosting further and further up to his knees, his thighs to gradually rest around his hips as the fiend paused his movements. With the hand not entwined with Bucky’s, Steve ran his fingers across the layer of pink at his side, observing the water ripple at the experimental touch. “It’s so warm,” the blond murmurs. It’s what he would imagine a Japanese onsen to feel like against his sensitive skin. It’s as if fragments of the sun’s rays have been captured in the lake, the water refusing to let them go in some selfish need. “Is it safe to drink?” Steve asks as he turned his attention to the demon.

“Yes, the water is completely safe,” Bucky assures his curiosity.

“Do the kukilu drink from here? Or other creatures?” It’s such a tranquil place, that Steve is surprised that there isn’t any other being around enjoying all it has to offer. Then again, the dark class has the habit of warning others away with just his mere, impending presence.

“No, few creatures come here.”

“Why’s that? It’s lovely.” Steve frowns as the gears in his mind try and work out as to why other beings wouldn’t take the immediate opportunity to enjoy themselves by the water.

“Most likely because I have lived around here for a significant period of time,” Bucky informs him, a sheepishness wormed into his tone.

“So, you scared everything away?” The blond mocks, breaking their hands apart so that he could run them along every bump across the demon’s taut chest.

Bucky hums at the firm touch, his fingers reaching out to grasp the younger man’s hips before jolting him up against him. A surprised squeal escapes the younger man as he wraps his arms quickly around the demon’s shoulders to balance himself. Though there was no need for that: Bucky has no intention of ever letting him go. The bottom of the lake feels silky against Steve’s toes, sort of like warm sand as the demon secured his hold around the blond’s waist, to then gently begin another serene dance between them. Steve allows himself to be guided round and round, his eyes never once leaving silver orbs despite the beauty all around him. Their feet touch with each fumbled movement, their stomachs aligned tightly as if the bonded pair had been slotted together.

“I thought we were here to wash ourselves?”

“That’s not what we’re doing?” Bucky jests, planting a quick kiss to the bridge of Steve’s nose. The younger man playfully slaps his chest in response, unable to force his lopsided grin into a less than mirthful expression.

 _“Bucky,”_ the blond whines, feigning his annoyance as a mischievous smile settled onto the demon’s face.

“Can’t we just enjoy this moment?”

“Sure… But your _come_ is still stuck between my legs,” Steve says as matter of fact, the cherry-blossom blush across his cheeks darkening with his own statement.

“Good,” the fiend deadpans, as if the mere notion was a fact that greatly pleases him.

“Bucky!” The younger man exclaims, voice raised as if scandalised, his fingers working into the dark hair at the nape of Bucky’s neck. The deep brown locks entwined around slender fingers make Steve’s skin far more fair than he recalls, as if his skin hasn’t been exposed to the sun that would have gradually turned his skin a golden tint back in the human realm.

“Alright, alright,” the dark class laughs, a deep bellow erupting from his chest. Steve’s somewhat mortified expression eases into a fraction of a smile, two baby blue pools watching the demon as if the secrets of the universe were contained in those glistening silver rings.

Bucky gently pauses their subconscious, dancing movements to drift a calloused hand between them. A faint gasp left the younger man when those fingers slid between his innermost thighs, gently sliding the pads of his fingers over the silky flesh. Gripping more tightly onto Bucky’s hair, Steve’s head tilts back as lashes conceal his eyes in bliss. A sigh of innocent pleasure coerces from his faintly-swollen lips, his legs parting further to allow Bucky’s gentle fingers to venture further to his sensitive opening. Nudging the pinkened skin as a silent warning before a single finger pushed past that ring of muscle. Steve can feel him stirring against his soft walls, his depths warmer than the blushing lake surrounding them.

“This is rather romantic, don’t you think?” Steve mutters quietly, blue orbs revealing themselves as he analyses the demon’s features. But soon, his head feels too heavy to hold up, and he finds himself quickly leaning forward until his temple rests slumped against the demon’s shoulder. As if gravity was forcing his body to align with his demon’s stronger form.

“Romantic?” Bucky repeats, crooking that finger experimentally.

“Oh, come on. You know exactly what you’re- ah -doing,” the blond accuses, a shudder crawling down his spine. A spark of pleasure coiled in Steve’s abdomen when Bucky pressed his curved digit further inside him, forcing the younger man to squirm closer to his demon in an attempt to relieve his oversensitive flesh. “Seducing me like this time after time.”

“Seducing you? I thought that we established that you are the seducer here,” the fiend jests, removing his finger with a stream of white that dissipates instantly into the water.

“Well, you sure know how to seduce me. Taking me to pretty places… I half expect a five-star meal to appear from the trees before you pull a ring out or something.” It was a joke, but the younger man caught the demon’s silence in response to it, and when he cast his stare up to investigate the quiet, he discovers Bucky’s head cocked to the side in apparent confusion.

“A ring?”

“Yeah, like a proposal.”

“Proposal?” Bucky echoes, beginning to remind the blond of a curious parrot. “An arrangement?”

A short burst of laughter left the younger man as he shook his head in amusement. Even now, in this beautiful realm, Steve sometimes forgets that Bucky was not brought up amongst human customs. There’s still the occasional word that trips the demon up and blankets his mind with bewilderment.

“What? I’m talking about _marriage_.”

“Marriage…” Bucky’s voice drifts off, as if tasting the word upon his tongue, only to become more uncertain of its meaning.

“You know what that is?” Steve questions delicately in an attempt to not damage the demon’s pride.

“I’m… not too sure.”

“Oh.” The younger man responded with nothing else, instinctively looking down at the fiend’s collarbone as his brain turned over trying to figure out some reply. Pearly whites caught his bottom lip automatically, before abruptly letting the skin go when his skin tingled unpleasantly beneath the surface. But not before Bucky caught the movement; fragments of ideas becoming embedded into the forefront of his mind as silence settled momentarily between them.

“Is that something you wanted in the human realm?” Bucky suddenly asks, his voice compelling the younger male to look back up to him; for those blue orbs could never hide something from him.

“What? No, of course not… I mean, I was so focused on just living rather than surviving, to then just wanting to survive my training at the academy... I’ve never given it much thought, really,” Steve admits, the pitch of his voice lowering with every confessed word. Slender fingers release from wild locks, to brush over the demon’s shoulders in thought. “I think my Ma expected me to. Or wanted me to, anyway. If I found the right person.” Steve’s gaze finally shifts back up to meet intrigued silver orbs, accompanied by a thoughtful hum that reverberates in the demon’s chest.

“So, marriage is between lovers?”

“Ideally. To join them legally as one. Some do it in the eyes of their God or gods, and others don’t get married for any religious purpose, but because marriage is seen by others that you’re committed to another… in the majority of cases, anyway,” Steve mumbles at the end, averting his stare only for a second before the demon’s question brings it back.

“It’s a ceremony, then.”

“For most it’s a ceremony.” The blond purses his lips slightly, brows furrowing as his right fingers meet the area on Bucky’s shoulder where skin turns to metal. “But marriage is a permanent thing… for the most part.”

“It seems complex,” the fiend negatively comments, his palms smoothing over the cadet’s slim waist.

“It just depends on how much they love each other,” Steve argues in return, as if he were trying to convince the demon of something. But of what, the blond honestly isn’t sure. “Sometimes things happen, and people cheat, get divorced, fall in love with another…” _Sometimes people get hurt._

“Then what’s the point in marriage?” Bucky scoffs, unable to see the purpose in something that seems almost trivial and yet intricate as far as the fiend is concerned.

“It’s just a way for two people to show each other that they love one another, that they are devoted to them,” Steve sighs, for it feels as if he’s losing some non-existent battle with the demon. He’s merely trying to express what marriage means for himself. Though in all honesty, it’s not something he’s actually thought about much before. It was always: _survive survive survive._ Things like marriage, going to school dances, parties… none of that seemed very important when every breath used to be a struggle for him. And when he finally got better, when he was no longer sick, and his mind got him through those vital exams, when he became bonded to Bucky… once again, his every day existence became about surviving to protect humanity. But something was different. It was no longer about surviving on his own. It was about surviving _with_ Bucky. Maybe it’s that thinking that ended him, but he doesn’t regret his feelings for the dark class. Even if it brought him to his death. The only thing that truly matters now, is that he’s here with the demon now, and they can finally concentrate on thriving together. If fate decides to allow them that luxury.

“But what about-“

“That’s its _purpose._ That doesn’t mean that everything is suddenly perfect,” Steve says with the tiniest of smiles before the demon can even think of arguing. “A good marriage takes work, unity, both through the good and bad times.” Pale fingertips trace the outline of scarred flesh, his touch feather-light and filled with his affections for the dark class. “And sometimes, people just can’t stay in love through those times. There are problems some struggle to work through. Sometimes people feel trapped in a marriage, while for others, it’s the most perfect thing.”

“I still don’t really get it,” the demon grouchily admits.

“Demons don’t have anything like that, then, I assume.” Steve finds it hard to imagine demons exchanging metallic rings or expressing their vows to the other; it just seems like such a _human_ thing. Though if there’s one thing that the young man has learned, is that demons often have a way of surprising him. It would be foolish of him to make assumptions about this realm no human actually knows anything of, except of a singular species that inhabit it. But even then, humanity knows so very little of the fiends they call monsters.

“No. Something similar. But it’s no ceremony, nor exchange of rings,” Bucky explains. The younger man perceives a hint of subtle distaste in the demon’s tone, as if human marriage was something insignificant compared to what occurs between demons. “It’s not something that can be easily broken. It’s… a connection,” he sighs almost blissfully, the hands upon Steve’s waist shifting to embrace the blond against his chest, forcing Steve to angle his head back to gaze into silver eyes. “When demons go through it, they can be with no other. It remains until death.”

“A… connection?” Steve repeats softly, as if the lovers had switched roles, sharing confusion between them.

“Like a bond, almost,” Bucky suggests, though even to him that seems a little farfetched. There’s no joining of souls, for that is something demon’s naturally lack. But it binds two creatures together in a way a bond would; allowing their energies to caress and meld in a beautiful synchrony. “It helps to form family unions,” he adds thoughtfully. “To claim a _Dajyl.”_

“A Dae-jewel?”

“Dae-jay- _eul_ ,” Bucky corrects, trying to fight off the smirk from over taking his features. There’s merely something rather amusing about Steve’s accent trying to pronounce such demonic terms. “It has rough translation to _mate_ in your language,” he reveals, a darkness swirling within those silver rings. An almost _primal_ spark within them. “When a pair or a trio are mated together, it’s a declaration that they belong with each other, that no one else can _claim_ them.”

“Oh, wow.” Blond brows raise in surprise. The younger man hadn’t considered that demons could truly be in any monogamous relationship, or in a sort of polygamy arrangement. Steve had always assumed that sex was just sex for demons -and maybe for some demons, it’s exactly that- but the idea of some considering that they only belong to another… Will only have sex with the one they are connected to… It all seems rather romantic? For lack of a better term. “So, how does the whole _claiming_ a mate thing work? Obviously, it’s not as simple as having sex… right?” The cadet is instantly intrigued as to how Dajyls come to be. In a world where everything seems so _magical,_ Steve can’t imagine anything within the realm is anything short of complex. But the younger man also wonders… whether it’s something that Bucky has thought about before, or perhaps his circumstances got in the way of that just as Steve’s own did.

“No, it’s a ritual that-“

_Snap!_

The sharp echo of a twig breaking interrupts the demon’s explanation. The sound is followed by a sudden rustle amongst the outlying bushes, drawing the bonded pair’s attention to the frozen scenery. The eerie noise came from the opposite side of the lake to where they had wandered in, and all of a sudden, Steve doesn’t feel so alone with his demon in this mysterious realm. Goose-bumps roughen his skin as they spread across his entire form, even where his pale calves and thighs are wrapped up in the silky warmth of the water.

“Is that the Empress?” Steve whispers, so quiet that his voice is almost lost in the air between them.

“No,” Bucky quickly replies. His eyes scanning across the horizon like meagre prey looking out for predators. The sensation of some territorial creature lurking within the treeline eating away at them both. Of course, it could have easily been a weak branch that finally snapped, only to fall into one of the golden bushes. But neither Steve nor Bucky are naïve enough to believe that. Not after all that they have been through. “Stay here,” the fiend orders, no room for any sort of argument as he pulls away from Steve’s touch to begin to wade across the lake.

“Bucky?” The blond beckons the demon back to him as he grabs desperately onto metallic flesh, fear swarming within his cells. He doesn’t want Bucky to leave him, not right now. Not ever. Just the thought… Oh, he can’t bear it.

“It’s alright. I’m just going to check it out,” Bucky assures him, breaking out of Steve’s weak hold effortlessly.

“Is it another demon?”

“I don’t think so.”

“What is it then? One of those creatures?” Panic is evident in the blond’s tone as he continues to follow the demon further into the lake, though the water doesn’t lap any higher than at his navel.

“I’ll be right back,” he reaffirms, pressing silver plates gently to the centre of Steve’s pectorals to force him to remain in place in the supposed safety of the lake water.

“Bucky?” Steve worriedly whines, those blue eyes begging the demon not to go.

The dark class pauses his movements watching the cadet with a torn expression for a moment that seems to last for an eternity, before he finally turns with the need to investigate. To make sure that they are indeed safe, and most of all _alone._

“I won’t be long.”

“Bucky!” Steve cries out, though this time, he doesn’t go after him. But observes him leave, watching the muscles of his back ripple as he reaches the embankment. A mist of shadows curl around the tops of the demon’s thick thighs, all the way to his hips, concealing the skin in fabric that forms securely around his groin. But all too quickly, Bucky is slipping through a gap in the bushes, leaving the blond on his own. At least, Steve feels alone, despite knowing Bucky isn’t that far away in reality. “Be careful!”

Steve sighs heavily with his frustration, observing the shadows of the far trees where his demon had disappeared into, becoming one with the darkness. The blond watches forlornly just a little while longer, before goose-bumps made themselves apparent on his arms once again, the breeze finally getting to him without the warmth of his demon present. Tearing his gaze away from the treeline, Steve shuffles through the water until he’s back where the two had been talking and seemingly dancing in the quiet morning sun. Concern wavering beneath his skin, the blond stares into the glistening water as he cupped his hands just beneath the surface, a tiny lake forming within the curve of his palms. Steve brings the warm liquid to his porcelain cheeks, those cherry-blossom droplets gleaming like jewels as they catch on the angle of his jawline before falling back into the water. Wetting his palms again, the blond wipes over his nape, coercing tiny pink gems to slither down the bumps of his spine. A moan surely would have left plump lips if Steve wasn’t so worried about what Bucky was up to.

Everything has gone so quiet, and perhaps whatever it was, the dark class scared them off. So now Bucky was only just double-checking that they are safe… At least that’s what Steve hopes is the case as he continues to bathe himself in the lake, running his hands along the lengths of his arms before smoothing over his ribs all the way down to his abdomen. It was then that the yellow mark upon his hip grabbed his attention, forcing his eyes to crease in a frown as he traces the tainted skin. Wet lips part with an inaudible smack as he works out its odd shape: Bucky’s handprint. It’s as if the flesh had instantly bruised during the night, going through the stages of healing so quickly that it’s become only a slight yellow tinge to suggest that anything had been there in the first place. Where Bucky had grabbed him a little too tightly in pleasure just that night.

Finding himself distracted with gazing at the mark, a fond smile embedded into features, Steve almost didn’t perceive the rustling of the violet grass where Bucky had gone to investigate. Glancing over his shoulder, the blond observes the landscape swaying lazily in the cool breeze. But otherwise, it’s as if the young man is all alone… But it still feels as if there are eyes upon him. Watching his every tiny move. As if he’s an exposed deer alone in an icy tundra, the shadow of a predator lurking in the near distance… That’s what it feels like.

Shaking off the odd sensation, Steve runs his fingertips longingly through the silky pink of the lake, filled with the yearning for Bucky to return. Hopefully soon. For the blond isn’t sure how patient he can be, especially when he feels so vulnerable in the water. Nibbling his bottom lip in thought, Steve debates going back onto dry land, to find that dark blanket to erase his body of the jewel-like droplets that cling to him. But his moment of contemplation comes to an abrupt end as he hears a low noise that strikes terror into his heart, for it sounded as if something had just effortlessly entered the water. Steve’s breath halts in his throat, blue eyes staring wide where Bucky had previously gotten out, for now that water is rippling as if recently disturbed.

But that was it, there was no other movement. No signs of life… But Steve was almost certain that something has been edging its way closer and closer to him. _Stalking_ him, hunting him. And he hates this: the unknown. In the human realm, he would have assumed the sound came from a fish resurfacing in search of something to eat, or an alligator investigating its surroundings. But here, the cadet knows it’s not either of those things. In fact, Steve is blind to whatever it could have been, the hue of the water obscuring any shapes that may be circling him, waiting for the opportunity to strike. And that chance was closer than Steve thought.

Just as the blond was beginning to feel as if he had imagined it all, that his loneliness in this moment was merely driving him to insanity, the bond with his demon throbbing with the need to shorten the tether between them… Just as he thought that Bucky would appear at any moment, and they would be reunited with surely a sweet kiss-

Steve feels something thin and smooth rub across his ankle, swift as if whatever it was, was racing through the water around him. His panicked breaths become more shallow, barely inflating his lungs as his body froze in place like some ancient statue. Again, there’s nothing. But somehow, that seems so much worse. Then again, perhaps whatever it was is gone now… Oh, Steve doubts that very much.

Ever so slowly, the blond shuffles his feet forward to begin to edge toward the embankment. But he doesn’t make it even two steps before something is wrapped around his ankle, cold and rigid as it impossibly tightened and then… Steve was being briskly tugged under. His vision of golden bushes and violet grass changes in an instant until all he can perceive is a swarm of pink all around him. Instinctively, he gasps for a shock of air, but his mouth is met with sweet liquid as his lungs filled and burned with the inhaled water. Slender fingers struggle for purchase, grasping at the cool air until he’s clenching at the water itself, being tugged a little further all within a couple seconds. Steve kicks out his legs, trying to dislodge whatever hold is upon his ankle while the other tries to prop himself up on the lake bed to no avail, his toes just seeming to slip through the bottom layer as if it were a cloud.

_Bucky!_

He can’t even manage to scream his demon’s name, it’s merely a gurgled plea bubbling in the water. But regardless, he doesn’t think the demon would be able to come to his aid quick enough. _Knows_ it, even. Can feel through their thick bond that the dark class isn’t close enough to save him. It almost seems pitiful, like some twisted fate that Bucky is never _quite_ close enough to save him…

Struggling against the wet grip around his ankle, it’s almost like someone had tied slimy rope around the bone, pulling tighter and tighter. So constricting, as if it has some personal vendetta against the blond, that Steve is sure he would be left with a circular purple bruise to accompany a surely broken ankle if the hold harshens any more. That is, if the blond survives this. In the back of his mind, he hears Bucky’s reassuring voice that as long as the fiend lives, he too shall thrive. Like some immortal being. No matter what tortures are thrust upon him.

But then what kind of hell would that be? To be in serenity with his demon, only for them to be ripped away from each other. By… another demon? Some creature? Steve doesn’t know what’s forcing his thigh to scrap across the lakebed, only that he can’t breathe, can’t think, the instinct to survive like an alarm blaring within his mind. Flashing red in warning, in panic. His instincts tell him to keep kicking, to keep trying and trying until the darkness inevitably takes hold. To find _some way_ to get to the river embankment _now._ But Steve is blind to his surroundings, hopelessly trying to find something to give him an edge over whatever is trying to drown him. Suffocate him in this beautiful land as if the thing believed Steve to be tarnishing it. As if the blond doesn’t belong in this realm.

But that’s when Steve feels something brush against his hip like thick, smooth rope, the sheer force of it pushing him to the side, disorientating him. In that moment, the blond has this horrible feeling that whatever has taken him under, has no plans of willingly letting him free. But Steve is determined to _survive._

To see Bucky once again, become wrapped safely in his arms as if he had never left their embrace.

_Survive._

Their bond throbs with the sensation, practically yelling at him to endure, to never keep up hope.

_Survive._

To follow one’s instincts, and the will to live.

_Survive._

Even when unseen monsters threaten to cut off the light and drown you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliff-hanger ahaha....
> 
> The Demon Bond Two Year Anniversary: Design Competition  
> Categories: Netherworld Creature, or Demon character  
> ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎  
> Entry Rules:  
> *One entry per category per person (you can enter one or both categories).
> 
> *You can submit either a drawing(s) with a small description, OR you may write a paragraph or more about what your creature or demon character looks like. It’s all about creativity, not whether your art/writing looks amazing or not. :)
> 
> *Direct Message me your entry (or entries) on the IG or Tumblr account, or post a link as a comment on the story if you don't have an account on those so I can see it! Do let me know if you plan to enter so I can figure out an end date for the competition.
> 
> Note~ Everyone’s entries will be posted with credit on The Demon Bond IG and Tumblr accounts. But the winner will have their creature/demon written into the story!  
> ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎  
> To Include in your entry:  
> These are merely example guidelines, please be as detailed as possible!
> 
> Netherworld Creature: 
> 
> Colours? Textures (furs, skin?)? Size of creature? Lives alone or in groups? Does it eat vegetation or meat, or earth matter like rocks? What about any distinguishing features? Are they placid, or generally aggressive? Do they have wings, or horns?
> 
> Demon Character: 
> 
> Class (Any except Death, sorry! E.g. Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, Electricity, Light, Dark)? Type (Warrior, Seducer, Trickster)? Young, middle aged or old? Humanoid or Demonic form (you can draw/write about either or both!)? Are they timid, or outgoing? Do they have any unique markings? What about wings, horns, tails? Absolutely feel free to turn an OC of yours into a demon, that’s absolutely fine!  
> ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎  
> I look forward to seeing your entries! Thank you all so, so much for your support these past two years! <3


	7. The Jaws of Death

The edges of his vision are blurry, or perhaps it’s the disturbed water from his frantic movements that is making those fizzing bubbles unsettle his sight. Or more worryingly, it could be the result of the lack of oxygen his body is enduring. Steve’s pink lungs are incredibly tight, swollen with cherry-blossom water that feels as if it’s weighing him down, aiding whatever being is trying it’s best to drag him further into the lake, and away from the safety of the embankment. But Steve is desperate, and he kicks and kicks, twisting his body and scraping his skin against the lake bed that seems far harsher than he recalls. Something pushes against his stomach, like an eel, or more eerily, like an arm grazing past him; frighteningly strong, and just as smooth.

A desperate, gurgled scream leaves his throat, the sound muffled as it dispersed into the water. It happens all too quickly, barely half a minute has passed, and more than ever, Steve knows he has to escape. The blond cruelly twists his leg, curving his spine to the point where it hurts. But… it works. The strained, awkward jerk has forced whatever took hold of him to release its cool touch. Finally, that sense of freedom floods through him, his heart _thud thud_ thudding between his ribs. Steve scrambles for the surface, his toes finding purchase on the lakebed, allowing himself to push up to where glimmers of light filter through the water. His wrinkled fingertips reach the breeze that flutters across the lake first, then damp, golden strands send fierce ripples through the water.

Gasping for a croaky breath that still fails to bring his chest any relief, Steve wades as fast as he possibly can through the water to the edge of the lake. But even now, the blond doesn’t feel safe, every step he takes forward, he imagines the creature to be doing the very same thing. Stalking after him as if in some blood-thirsty revenge for his escape, or maybe whatever grabbed him was merely hungry for pale flesh and white bones: a taste of what darkness itself loves. Oddly enough, it reminds of those icy blue eyes that used to watch him from the shadows in those old nightmares of his.

Disorientated, the blond hauls himself up onto the violet grass, nails digging into the dark soil as he crawls on his hands and knees a few feet before his weight coerced his left hip into the ground. His body cannot bear to move any further away from the water’s edge. As if this rock beside him was some sort of safe haven for him. The stone was large, the size of his entire torso, gleaming in the sun as if it was a dark purple jewel desperate for its beauty to be recognised. But Steve doesn’t have the time nor _mind_ to admire his beautiful surroundings. Nothing, not even the shimmering golden bushes seem as vibrant and enchanting as it had all seemed before he had been tugged under.

But that wavering sense of safety doesn’t stay with him for long. Merely a few seconds, in fact. That sense of the earth protecting him vanishing instantly as he heard the water rippling close behind him, as if something were about to slither out of the water after him. Steve’s heart jolts, his limbs automatically scrambling forward through the grass, flattening the violet strands. The blond quickly turns to face the lake, lips parted and blue eyes wide in fear. His back propped up off the ground as he rests weakly on his elbows, pearly pink droplets cascading down his form to begin to soak the grass. The sun is warm against his skin, pleasant rays that should have stopped the shiver that raked through his body. But as dark, damp lashes come together swiftly to clear his vision of that haziness…

Everything is still.

Silent.

As if he hadn’t just been chased out of the peaceful lake by some creature that surely still hides in the cloudiness of the water. The only thing that Steve can perceive, is his own heart loud like an overbearing drum right in his ear canals, as if the organ were threatening to be expelled from his throat. But then, that erratic _thump thump thump_ stopped the very second two round eyes poked out of the water, no bigger than golf balls but observing him almost like a crocodile. They were strange, almost entirely pink just like the water, except from these filled spheres in the centre that were a deep purple. Akin to irises that Steve is sure that he would be able to see his own reflection in if he just crept closer. But he wouldn’t dare.

All of a sudden, a high-pitch chirp erupted from his left, drawing his attention immediately. The sound reminded Steve a lot of a baby bird begging for attention. But what he found… it wasn’t quite as cute as a hungry chick, though it was still oddly adorable in its own right. The creature was perched on the top of the shining stone, its body somewhat thin and flexible like a snake, no longer than the length of Steve’s arm. The curious being has two angled front legs to keep its upper body lifted up off the stone, the paws ending in two dark-clawed toes, similar to that of a bird’s talons. Its scale-less skin was sleek and a cloudy grey, and when the light shines just so, the creature has this purple dotted hue across its entire body. Its snout is short, it’s nostrils round like its curious eyes, and towards the back of its head, where one would imagine ears, were two purple tuffs. The hair was sleek-looking, as if waterproof, but except from those two patches of long strands that pulled back as if timid, the creature was hairless. Steve isn’t sure what creature it most resembled, for it was as if numerous of them had melded together to create this simple, yet seemingly exotic organism.

The creature shifted closer to the edge of the stone, its chest rumbling lowly, as if it had a small motor buried inside of it. Its wide head tilts to the side, analysing the younger man as inquisitive chirps leaked from a small, dark opening in the centre of its throat. It reminded the blond of a strangely placed blowhole, the sort one would usually associate with whales or dolphins. But as Steve took an even closer look, he perceived three slits on either side of its neck near that indentation, fluttering like gills. Surely this cannot be the same being that just threatened to drown him in the serene lake? Such a thought seems delirious. It would have to have immense strength, and this creature certainly isn’t big enough to do any real damage… At least, that’s what Steve firmly believes. But if the blond were to reach out and touch it, there’s no doubt in his mind that it would feel like the thing that had wrapped itself tight around his ankle.

Blunt nails dig into the grass in a display of nerves, blue eyes never once straying from those gleaming orbs that stare right back at him… as if they were staring right into his soul. Seeing what’s nestled inside him. As if it were something the creature innocently yearned for, just to see what makes the blond so special.

_Splash! Slosh!_

The younger man’s attention immediately snaps to the water’s edge, instantly discovering two of the very same creatures hauling themselves up slowly out of the water. Creeping closer and closer like the shadows cast by the moving sun. Unless the blond were to drag himself away, they would soon be upon him like intrigued cats wanting a sniff of his scent up close. Despite Steve’s better judgement, he should feel terribly frightened. Shaking and yelling trying to get away, but these curious creatures emit this friendly aura as they pause just two feet away. Low and pitchy sounds escape their snouts, as if the creatures are chattering amongst themselves. Communicating about this odd, pale being with golden hair and the lingering odour of darkness upon their skin.

The creature perched on the stone slips down like a snake, its body moving in a wave-like shape side to side as it crawled over to Steve in smooth motions. Reaching his slightly bent legs, the creature sniffs his shin, sending a cool mist of air over the cadet’s skin. Steve finds himself relaxing further as the creature blinks and chirps a musical tune, as if approving of the tiny blond strands of hair covering his legs. Perhaps Steve was wrong, that whatever grabbed him was merely some vegetation that got entangled around his ankle and hadn’t been some monster trying to drown him. Then again, that could all just be wishful thinking.

A rustle in the violet grass at his sides draws the cadet’s attention away from the creature examining him, revealing more of the aquatic beings. A lot more. From what the blond can work out, there’s around fifteen of them. Well, at _least_ fifteen. All crawling slowly towards him, as if _stalking_ him. Suddenly, Steve doesn’t feel so safe anymore. His muscles tense with uncertainty, an overwhelming sensation flooding through his every cell. That electric feel one has when in imminent danger. Blue orbs glance to the other side of the lake, yet everything is as it were a few minutes ago: absent of his demon.

Not wanting even more of these creatures getting too close to him, Steve very carefully digs his palms into the violet grass, steadying himself as leans his upper-body further. Arms locked to haul his body up off the soft grass and moist soil, Steve slowly began to shift his leg to pull it towards his chest, leaving the one the creature was currently sniffing in place. The odd being merely continues its inspection of the limb, giving the younger man the confidence to finally move it. But as it does so, the creature abruptly lets out a sharp, hissing sound. The noise reverberating in its pale throat as its mouth opened wide. _Very wide._ Like a python dislocating its jaw to swallow its prey whole. And within its pale, fleshy mouth sat rows upon rows of fang-like teeth. Their orientation circular, like looking into the eye of a tornado. The very jaws of death, threatening to tear his limbs from his white bones like desperate piranhas. Steve can practically feel those razor-sharp fangs digging through the layers of his pale skin.

Steve automatically jolts upright, the balls of his feet sinking a little into the soft soil as he took an instinctive step back. An echo resounded around him, infiltrating his mind like a rattlesnake warning him of the danger… The danger to his survival these creatures possess. Every single one of them in unison perform the ritual-like growl, the very backs of their throats like blackholes with the fierce intention to leave none of his remains to mourn.

His rapidly beating heart is caught in his throat, almost suffocating just as the warm lake water almost had mere moments ago, but regardless of the dire need to steady his aching body… he turns and _runs._ He has no destination in mind, he just knows that he needs to get away from those creatures, even if it means invoking a _chase._

Although he momentarily stumbles through the long grass, his flailing arms help him to find a balance as he sprints through the violet clearing towards the uncertain refuge of the forest. The vibrant strands catch around his calves, slackening his desperate run a fraction. Though fortunately for the blond, it seems to be a hinderance to the hissing creatures too. Just few moments later, and Steve is crashing through a small gap between golden bushes, the promise of safety beckoning to him even as the leaves and thin branches scratch at the exposed stretch of his upper-arms and thighs. The first couple layers of his skin are torn away in tiny pink lines across those soft surfaces, not _quite_ breaking through enough to shed blood. Not that the blond would be able to notice in his current state.

For now, as the younger man broke through into the canopy of the forest, he has the upper hand. But one mistake, and he would be in severe pain, only able to scream until his demon comes to save him. Or rather, the pile of flesh and bones that would surely be the only thing left of him for Bucky to discover. Steve risks a fearful glance over his shoulder, his feet pounding against the soft soil and the crunch of fallen leaves… but those creatures are coming right at him. And quickly, too. As if they’re desperate with hunger for a decent kill. Their talons grip into the ground, allowing them to spring forward, swiftly catching up to the blond and his violently throbbing heart. Although there’s the instinct to keep looking behind him, to keep an eye on those snarling beings, Steve knows that he has to remain focused ahead, to find a clear pathway through the onslaught of trees and the curling roots that he could easily trip over.

As Steve sprints through the huddled trees, he spots a small, leaf-littered clearing that he had no choice but to run into, the sensation of being exposed like an alarm blaring inside his mind. Almost instantly, Steve figures it was a mistake to run in this direction, but he has no idea where to go. No idea where he is or where he’s running to. He’s lost from the place he calls home, and the being who he loves dearly. And that… that’s the most frightening thing he’s ever had to face. Forget staring into the cold eyes of death itself, nor the sharp fangs that wish to bury deep into his flesh, being apart from his demon is more terrifying than any of that.

However, the young warrior is no more than a few paces into the clearing when his toes catch on a fallen branch, forcing his balance into disarray as he’s sent hurtling forward. Steve cries out in surprise as his body weighs heavily down to the earth, the crackle of the leaves resounding in his ears as his slim form presses against them, the slight outstretch of his arms the only thing stopping his head from smacking straight into the ground. Steve’s left hip digs into the hardened leaves, their skeletons breaking and crinkling under his skin that has become marred with smears of brown and traces of pink. Unprotected from the sun’s heated rays that begin to gradually burn his flesh, traces of sweat drip down his spine like crystal droplets that would soon evaporate and disappear, if only he was given the chance to rest. But even now, Steve can still hear those creatures right on his trail. The blond rolled onto his side more firmly, risking a glance over his trembling shoulder.

One of the fearsome creatures was dashing right for him, its open mouth salivating at the edges, the pink liquid catching and shining on those incalculable white teeth. It’s close, too close and Steve knows that he won’t get up in time to escape its jaws. Not as the frantic creature leapt into the air, its shadow instantly cast on the warm ground. Like a piece of darkness getting ready to snuff out the light. Steve’s instincts overtake his mind, reigning control over his body without so much as a choice of slipping into his state-of-mind the academy drilled into him. He’s far from calm, and he can’t _think._ There’s no thought crossing his mind on what he should do, just the overbearing fear tearing throughout his entire body. Petrified, for lack of a better term. That moment when all sense of reason catches in the wind, abandoning one to succumb to the terrors. Regardless of whether the threat is truly real or merely the product of anxieties.

Steve tucks his head against his shoulder, golden strands shadowing his face from the sun as he held his right arm out to the being, palm stretched taut as if somehow, that might just save him from the impending, horrific agony he knew would come in just a moment. Blue eyes screwed tightly shut, Steve awaits the first bite of dozens of angled fangs into his flesh. A snap of jaws that would soon be joined by the many others that jump into the clearing like foxes chasing a meagre rabbit. But that’s exactly what he feels like: _prey._ No longer the hunter, the _soldier_ he thought he was. There’s something inside of himself, something has _changed._ Something that has the blond filled with that dire need for survival, and most of all, to _thrive._ It’s as if his own body knows he is weak, as if it’s waiting for something to swell deep inside him. And only then that would allow him to be able to survive without his demon. To not have to _need_ Bucky beside him, regardless of him _wanting_ his shadows to be close. But perhaps it’s time the blond learn that this world is somewhere that he is a part of now, no longer connected to the human realm. His soul is tied to darkness, and this world is where darkness originates, and flourishes. But, so does life, too. Now that the embodiment of death itself is seemingly absent from existence…

Waiting for those teeth to sink into his flesh, the last thing Steve expected was the distressed melody of sharp, excruciating squeals, followed by consecutive _thud thud thuds_ against the ground, before silence abruptly fell over the clearing. For a moment, the blond doesn’t dare to open his eyes, in dread of what he might discover around his naked, blemished limbs. The agonising beating of his heart gently softens, his breaths not quite as heavy and panicked as they were mere moments ago. But with the prolonged, eerie silence, Steve finally plucks up the courage to part thick lashes, his eyes finding it temporarily difficult to adjust to the glowing environment bathed in the sun’s rays.

But once those eyes were able to take in his surroundings, a small gasp of shock escaped his tight throat. The creature who had attempted to leap at his fallen form was laying limp beside him, right by his stomach. Its once shiny, purple tinted skin was now a dull black like a storm cloud, those eyes wide and filled with bland shadows, absent of any colour. But the most disturbing thing, was the purple fluid leaking from its faintly parted mouth. Like a thick stream of a dark violet galaxy, pouring over those white fangs to taint the ground beneath it.

When Steve finally forced his gaze to leave the dead body at his side, those pink lips of his parted in complete and utter mortification at what he saw. All around him as far as he could see, were numerous lumps of dead, slowly decaying creatures. Pools of purple gathered around them, shimmering and dripping off the leaves to seep into the soil beneath, becoming one with the earth once more. Their previously glimmering, sleek skin have all dulled into black, giving the appearance of rocks invading the clearing. And if one looked closely enough, there is a distinct look of loneliness in their clouded eyes. As if those vibrant orbs never once held life behind the round organs.

At once, Steve’s frantic breaths came back to him, confusion wormed into his very core, his stare going to the edges of the clearing in search of whoever could have possibly been responsible for the deaths of twenty ferocious creatures. But the surrounding trees are absent of any forms who could have been watching over him, and his lover is certainly nowhere in sight.

What being could be capable of such destruction? To take away life within just a mere few seconds? It was as if it took no effort at all. But because of whatever being was responsible, Steve won’t have to suffer through such immense pain. Still, that doesn’t explain who -or what- caused these creatures to suddenly die before they could rip into his flesh. Steve can only be thankful, if a little anxious about who on earth lurks by with such power. But it’s in that moment that the blond perceives his demon calling out to him all the way by the lake.

The younger male can’t quite bring himself to speak, adrenaline still coursing through his thumping heart, his throat seemingly too dry to form words. Though eventually, Steve hears the sounds of heavy footsteps rushing through the forest, and a moment later, he finally sees a dark figure swerving between the trees. And only a second after, Bucky reveals himself in the glow of the sun. The demon’s silver orbs instantly drop down to take in the sight of his lover laying on his side. Bucky’s expression quickly morphs from one of worry to one of deep concern and perplexity.

“Steve? Are you okay-“ Bucky exclaims, his voice laced with worry as he took a large step into the clearing. As if he were about to run to the blond, until he halted in place upon seeing the dead creatures surrounding his lover’s exposed form. Pale skin amongst blackened bodies. One might think the creatures had be charred by fire, unless one were to touch their skin; still silky smooth but teeming with darkness. Bucky’s dagger-like gaze drifts over the numerous bodies, taking in their state before his attention drifted back to his little warrior who looked just as worried as he himself felt. “Did you do this?” He questions softly, almost cautiously, taking careful, well-placed steps between seeping bodies and their fluids as he made his way to the younger man. Steve wasn’t far away at all, but it sure as hell felt like it to them both.

“What? No!” Steve cries out his denial, face contorted with his confusion as he stared right into those shining, silver orbs. “How would I even…You didn’t kill them?” His final words were practically a whisper, for he already knew the answer to it. And it wasn’t an answer he would like. But maybe for split second, the blond could pretend that this strange world wasn’t becoming stranger. He’s honestly not sure how much _bizarre_ his brain can handle.

“No.” That simple word brought dread right into the younger man’s heart. It forced his chest to momentarily tighten, as if it was trying to ward off this electric feel tingling within his very cells.

Steve’s fingers at his sides dig through the leaves absent-mindedly into the soil, though the blond quickly looked down when warmth ran over one hand, and Steve yanked it away from the oozing liquid from the creature laying dead beside him. It felt disgusting on his skin, and the blond only yearned to wash it away… except that he didn’t want to go anywhere near that lake. Nor any large embodiment of water, in fact. Just the thought sent shivers of fear crawling down the nodules of his spine.

Silver orbs cast their gaze around once again, as if that would reveal the hidden source to whatever killed these creatures, and coincidently, protected Steve. But there’s nothing. Not even the rustle of the wind squeezing past branches… It’s just _silent._ That in itself felt far worse than if there had been some figure observing them from the edges of the forest clearing. Because it could only mean that whoever was responsible, was incredibly powerful, enough so reign in their power and hide it from the dark class. And Bucky knew for a fact, that it wasn’t the Empress. She was _life,_ not death.

“I could sense you were in trouble, so I came to find you again… but it looks as if you’re okay?” The demon questioned, a frown forming between his dark brows as he noticed the pink scratches along the cadet’s hips, marring over the yellowed bruise there.

The blond nodded his head slightly, a shuddered sigh leaving him as a final set of goose-bumps roughened his skin. Despite the warm rays of the sun soaking him, those still faintly damp locks trickling droplets down his spine made him feel awfully cold. As if he were laying on a frozen, barren land with no chance of finding shelter. But his demon was here now, and ever so gradually, a sense of safety and relief began to seep into his cool form.

“Steve?” Bucky urges the younger male for some sort of verbal reply, not trusting his silence. He can still feel the underlying fear the cadet has through their bond; a bond that seems to have tightened with uncertainty. Not an uncertainty about their love, for that they are both more than sure of. No, it’s an uncertainty about the rest of the world their love has to try and thrive in. Danger seems to lurk around every stone, bolder and branch. Every blade of grass and inch of soil, each drop of water… This realm contains unimaginable beauty, but Steve has come to realise that there is so much more to this world. Deadly beings beyond what any scientist thought possible.

“Yeah, I’m fine...” Steve whispers, praying his voice is loud enough for his demon. But it always is, even his most whispered, wavering tone. The blond allows his unsettled gaze to drift across the clearing as the dark class came to stand cautiously at his feet. His brows creased, Steve angled his neck to look up at his demon, a curious, if somewhat anxious expression contorting his features. “What are they?”

“Decolk,” he replies, a slight accent embedded into his tone.

“Dea-cole-kae?” Steve repeats, trying to work his tongue around the unfamiliar word. There’s still so much more of him to learn about the Forbidden Language, though fortunately he’s got Bucky and quite possibly an eternity to get the hang of it.

“They hunt in groups,” Bucky offers, his gaze once again turning subtly to the numerous creatures laying dead around them. Those silver eyes practically analysing them as if that mere action could provide him with all the answers they seek. Honestly, Bucky has never seen destruction quite like this before. It’s certainly not a usual hunting method of any demon- neither dark nor death. At least, that’s what Bucky believes. Though it’s certainly not because of anything around them. No substance from the earth could do this. This area of the Netherworld is a refuge for Bucky for a reason: it’s safe… Well, it used to be. Now, Bucky isn’t entirely sure.

“Gathered,” Steve grumbles, shifting up to rest upon one thigh, careful to keep his hands away from the purple liquid that seems to be a continuous stream from the creature’s mouth. “Do they go after demons?”

 “Lower level ones, yes. Children, even,” Bucky admits, wary of perhaps frightening the younger man with such knowledge. Though he had already warned the blond that it is not just demons in this realm that threaten their existence. That although they may wish to live a peaceful life, there are other beings within the realm that could get in their way of achieving that. “They must have wondered if you were easy prey… but clearly you ain’t,” the demon chuckles softly in an attempt to lighten the mood, even with the sense of guilt buried deep within his chest.

Bucky regrets leaving his little warrior, even if he hadn’t been gone for very long at all. He _should_ have stayed by his side, Bucky knows that, but… the dark class just had to make certain that they were alone. Though he realises now that such a thought was a mistake, and he doesn’t understand why he didn’t pick up on the decolks’ presence. The demon had just been… _distracted._

“I don’t know what happened,” Steve mumbles, confusion swirling within the blue oceans of his eyes. This feeling of the unknown… the blond hates it, and so he can’t help but ask questions, even if he won’t like the answers he’s given. “Aren’t there any other demons nearby?”

“No. There’s no one,” Bucky utters, not particularly wanting to reveal such information, unsure if it would frighten the boy, or relieve him with such knowledge. But he doesn’t like this either; not knowing what’s going on. What lurks within the shadows, potentially affecting their future together.

“How can that be? If it’s only you and I here, and no other creatures but them… How can they just suddenly die like that? Surely it’s impossible?” Steve questions, his tone _desperate._ Just as anxious as Bucky feels, and it vibrates through their bond like a freight train.

“Then you must have killed them,” the demon states plainly, unable to give any other explanation, as far-fetched as the one he gave seems.

“That’s ridiculous! I didn’t have a chance to try and manifest any weapons,” Steve exclaims, trying to get Bucky to see that the blond… the blond had been _weak._ Scared beyond belief and he hadn’t even thought about manifesting a weapon that used to be so instinctive for him. He hadn’t even felt the desire to wield one within he chest as he usually did just before experiencing a fight.

“You must have tapped more deeply into my power… More than when at the academy,” Bucky offers.

“You think so?” Steve frowns, it hadn’t felt as if he had used his demon’s abilities to destroy the creatures. He hadn’t felt like himself at all, and Bucky’s presence certainly hadn’t been flourishing through him as he would have expected it to have if using his power.

“I… I don’t know,” Bucky murmurs, his voice quiet as he gently lowered himself to his haunches beside the younger male, silver eyes inspecting the fading cuts. “Honestly.”

“Maybe it wasn’t me…” The blond whispers, almost _hopefully._

“Maybe.” The dark class stares at his beloved’s scrapes, unconvinced but otherwise at a loss as to exactly what happened, before he offered a firm hand to the blond. “Come, let's dry off.”

Steve cast his gaze down quickly upon his naked frame, flushing a deep crimson as he realises he had run through the forest naked like some woodland nymph. The blond could only hope that no one saw him to retain some sort of modesty, but if it was only him and his own demon about then… Steve doesn’t know what that means. That perhaps there’s something far more deadly lurking around one of the tree trunks.

The smaller male brought up one hand to shakily place it within Bucky’s grasp, the adrenaline that had once been pumping through his veins entirely gone to be replaced with a simmering sense of fear. But that sensation could have been the one to keep him alive.

The demon carefully tugged the younger male’s hand more firmly, his other snaking round to grasp his upper arm as the blond shuffles on his knees, toes digging into the earth to help him stand. But before his shins could even lift up from the layer of leaves beneath him, the cadet had this churning sensation within his stomach, a burning at the back of his throat and he knew what was going to happen.

Steve took the fiend by surprise as he quickly batted his calloused hands away, pushing his chest back a little as his own back arched as he faced the ground. All at once, his body convulsed fiercely as pink liquid gushed from his lips, staining the earth under him. The blond coughs violently for a moment, struggling to catch his breath as if he were drowning all over again. Blue eyes redden at the rim, his vision blurry with tears that threaten to fall and cascade down his paled cheeks. His body jerks forward once more as he threw up the sweet liquid he had inhaled, his skin roughened in goose bumps as a bead of sweat trickles down his spine. Limbs shaking, a small cry of distress leaves his trembling lips, and it is only then that he registers Bucky’s warm hands running soothingly along the expanse of his back.

But even that touch doesn’t ease the distinct feeling that something very powerful is coming their way, and there’s nothing they can do to stop it.


	8. The Uncertainty of Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the slight delay again, had tests to do so got busy with those. Also I want to apologise for my late responses to your lovely comments, university is taking over a bit, but despite essays and the like, I am still continuing the story, and I feel as if at least for now, I am still on schedule. :)  
> Also the Design Competition is open still!

“Steve?” Bucky calls out softly, calloused fingers rubbing circles across the pale expanse of his lover’s spine, hoping to soothe the convulsions that still loom beneath the surface. “Shh, there we go,” he coos, reaching round to erase a stray tear with the pad of his thumb from under the cadet’s eye. Steve gasps, the sound hoarse and croaky as he coughs up nothing but air. But still, his body felt the need to expel everything he could have possible inhaled back at the lake. “You’re okay,” the demon assures him, unconvinced that Steve was really perceiving his words, but rather just his voice. That in itself is a comfort to the young warrior- always has been and will continue to be so.

The blond manages a hesitant glance up, trails of transparent saliva giving a shine to his lips and down his chin in thin lines. Chest expanding and contracting harshly, Steve struggles to catch his breath, his pink lips remaining parted as his body gently swayed back and forth with each inhale. Seeing Bucky should have eased the pain he felt, but instead, the demon’s mortified expression only made him feel worse.

“Home,” he croaks out, the only word he can seem to manage in that moment. For once, Steve has had enough. This world is overwhelming, and even after a love-filled night with his demon, he requires time to adjust to it. His body is still quivering, even with golden rays attempting to warm the glistening surface of his skin. He had been scared, like nothing he’s ever experienced before and that… that fear itself has him terrified. The blond knows the only thing that may vanquish the ache within his lungs, is being wrapped up in Bucky’s arms within the darkness of his own creation.

“Alright, let’s get you home then, okay?” Bucky soothes gently, manifesting a dark blanket identical to the one before, allowing it to drape securely over the younger male’s shoulders. As if that thin, warm material might conceal the smaller man from the rest of the realm and the secrets it contains. Like a shield of darkness, with Bucky being the knight keeping it in place.

“Please,” he whispers, the word spoken on a shaky exhale. Steve perceives a firm touch upon his waist over the dark material, but barely reacts to the arm curving around his back as he’s pulled against the demon’s muscular side. As if the dark class was willing to bear his entire weight for as long as the cadet needed him to do just that.

“Come on then,” the demon coos, hauling the younger male up as he stood up from leaning back on his haunches. “Up we get,” he urges gently, as if Steve were some frightened, wounded animal he needed to be cautious with. And in a way, the little warrior is exactly that. Waking up in a strange, entirely new realm where everything one believed is so very different… it’s a lot to handle. And perhaps it’s too much for the younger male right now.

Steve merely needs a while to collect his thoughts and organise them, to will his body to understand that he cannot be truly harmed as long as Bucky is alive. The blond doesn’t fear pain, and he certainly doesn’t fear death, not anymore… it’s just that… Ah, the smaller man doesn’t truly have an excuse for his behaviour. What overcame him is beyond any explanation he could possibly give. He just knows that he was controlled by this instinct to survive, and in that moment, it was as if his body knew that the only way he was going to make it out of that situation almost unscathed was to _run._ To run as fast and far as his water-filled lungs were able to manage. Even if he had thought about manifesting a shield or blade, it wouldn’t have been sufficient to protect himself against so many hissing beings. He was outnumbered, and sometimes, one has to realise when a fight is impossible to win. Especially a fight in a realm that is not one’s own.

Legs still shaking from the adrenaline that seeps out of his veins, Steve allows himself to press into the demon’s torso as if he were a sturdy wall to lean on. The blanket swirls around his knees, almost hiding his entire form from the heated sun that cloaks them in a heavenly, pinkish glow. But soon the blond is enfolded in shadows as that familiar wind sound ripples through the air, and just a moment later, coal-like feathers invade his vision, carefully caressing his covered shoulder and tracing his exposed calf. There’s this pain in his stomach, brought on by his previously violent convulsions, and to ease it, Steve places a hand upon his bare abdomen, while his other fingers grasp the edges of the blanket to keep it together at the front of his body.

Bucky carefully began to guide Steve back to their little sacred cavern, the little nest once full of loneliness but now was embedded with their affections. The creatures were a little awkward to work their way through, but the demon made sure to take them through the small paths between their slowly decaying forms that are sure to soon rot and envelop the area in the stench of death. And even as they reach the forest and passed the leaking forms, their wide eyes and limp bodies still weren’t out of mind. It was as if their ghosts were following after them as they trekked through the forest.

The demon doesn’t know exactly what happened, and he doesn’t ask about how the blond got from the water to the forest clearing. He can only assume the worst, for in the end, even the blond wasn’t sure. One moment all had been fine between them, their happiness had flowed through the water and Bucky had left for just a moment, and the next thing they knew, Steve had been drowning and that was… terrifying. Even more so with the unknown seemingly waiting for the chance to reveal itself and change everything.

Steve wouldn’t be able to say how much time has passed if asked that simple question. In the purple glow of the cavern and the shimmering gold and silver of Bucky’s arm, it’s impossible to tell whether the sun has hidden itself behind the mountains yet or not. The cadet’s sense of time is so off, being in a completely different realm and time and even being in a new body entirely… it’s enough to have anyone disorientated. Fortunately, he’s not alone, despite how much he felt like that when those creatures had pulled him under the silky pink water.

But despite what Steve had felt, he _is_ safe. Undeniably so. It had merely come as a shock to him. Just like _that_ their little peaceful life had taken a sudden turn to somewhere very dark indeed. The blond no longer feels as if he’s floating in some peace, no longer in some heavenly place. No, things have only become more real, and Steve is beginning to realise just what kind of world this demonic one is. It isn’t some safe haven, it’s more than that, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Sometimes beauty holds something deadly beneath it, and that stands more true than ever in this realm.

“I’m so sorry I left you,” the demon whispers mournfully into the tender warmth of the cave, his muscular arms squeezing just a little bit tighter around the pale form wrapped up in his regretful embrace.

The blond automatically snuggles further into the crook of Bucky’s neck, breathing in that familiar scent that belongs to no other than his demon. Other than the occasional movement to get comfortable, the younger man has stayed worryingly still. Even with the demon there to soothe him from the trauma he experienced, the blond still keeps playing the scene over and over in his mind. His pale body had long since dried amongst the soft furs around them, a few drawn up to curl around his waist. The marks upon his flesh had faded into nothing in what seemed like no time at all. The scratches had merged with the rest of his pale skin, no longer even marring the flesh with baby pink lines across the tops of his thighs or arms. The yellow ghost of Bucky’s handprint bruising his hipbone was no longer, the evidence of their night of lovemaking vanished as if they hadn’t been desperate and hopelessly needy for the other. And although they may be resting curled up and bare in one another’s arms, there is no heated lust simmering beneath their skin. Just this love that flows steadily through their bond like a transparent river.

“It’s okay, Bucky,” Steve murmurs in reply, truly meaning it, even if he doesn’t quite convince the demon.

One charcoal wing lays over them, carefully to not allow the weight to crush the smaller of the two, but still pressing somewhat heavily around that amber aura that still fails to waver. There is so much fight in the cadet, and he’s been fighting for so long… For once, he just needs to feel small, and protected by another.

“It’s not,” Bucky insists, as if some of the blond’s stubbornness had worn off on him over the years. Though Steve getting hurt… such a thing just isn’t acceptable to the fiend. “You got hurt and I…” the demon drifts off, his arms squeezing the young man in his arms a tad tighter, like a snake trying to constrict around its prey. Something that the blond had felt like back in the eerie serenity of the lake: prey. _Vulnerable._ “I promised to protect you.”

“I’m not hurt anymore,” he insists, lifting up his head in search of silver orbs. Simultaneously, Steve’s slender fingers slide along the demon’s chest until those soft pads rest over the taut skin above his heart. He could feel that organ pulsing forcefully, yet steadily within the confines of his sturdy rib cage. “I’m fine just… shaken up is all.”

 _“Steve.”_ The demon’s tone is adamant, clearly an opinion that wasn’t going to be easily swayed. Especially not with those begging silver orbs and the tightness set in his jaw.

“Mm’fine.” The blond nuzzles back into the crook of the demon’s shoulder, right where he belongs. Though a thought quickly sprung to mind as he breathed in his lover’s scent, that blend of forest and smoke that is so soothingly familiar. “Were there more of those creatures that went after you? Or did you scare them away?” Steve chuckles, amused at the idea -and quite frankly, the real possibility- that Bucky had scared more of the decolk away from the lake’s tranquillity. The dark class just seems to be someone who frightens every other living thing around them. Well, all except death, it would appear… and as far as Steve can tell, maybe the Empress has a unique opinion of the dark warrior too.

“Scared em away, but…” The demon murmurs, as if he wasn’t even quite sure of that fact himself. Or perhaps the fiend was trying to hide something from the younger man, an attempt to protect him from this realm he’s found himself stuck to. An overwhelming world where no human or advanced technologies have ever returned from.

“But?” Steve looks up, urging the demon to continue whatever unpleasant thoughts were clearly prowling at the front of his mind like hungry stray dogs.

“I think they had actively tried to draw me away,” he considers, though there’s still this tone to his voice that had this uncertainty hanging in the area around them like some thick fog.

“Really?” Steve quirks a brow at that, surprised by the fact that those creatures could be intelligent enough to do that. To analyse and form a plan to separate the weak from the strong. To isolate and make the weakest even more vulnerable. To cut off any hope of escape and of making it out alive. “That’s kind of smart, well… would have been.”

“I should have realised but I didn’t think they would even attempt to go after you,” the demon admits regretfully, as if he should have known better. Though there are times in life where the outcome cannot be predicted, and patterns change. Creatures evolve, and new things come into stable realms.

“You couldn’t possibly have known, Bucky,” Steve assures him, reaching up a hand to cup the side of the demon’s remorseful face. Blue eyes gaze up with a tiny, comforting smile as the soft pad of his thumb caresses the fiend’s cheek, feeling the harsh beginnings of stubble jutting out of the skin. “But we know now… And whatever happened, happened, and we should be thankful for that, right?”

“I don’t know if we should be, Steve.” Bucky leaned into the reassuring touch, though he was anything but comforted despite having his lover safe in his embrace.

“We’ll find out what… happened in the clearing,” the blond suggests, his words catching in his throat for a mere moment. “Perhaps this Empress you keep mentioning will know.” That might have been a shot in the dark, but there’s surely no one else who could explain it except for whatever being may have been looking out for the cadet. Hiding in the shadows of the forest waiting for the moment to… protect him? Was something powerful keeping an eye on the blond, and wishes to see him through the realm in one piece? Or is their situation so much more simple than that? Something more personal?

“Perhaps,” the demon mutters, silver orbs falling shut as he ever so gently placed his temple against the younger male’s.

“I really am okay though,” the blond whispers weakly, ocean orbs casting down to fixate on the fiend’s collarbone.

“This time,” Bucky grumbles, as if cautious of something similar happening, though Steve honestly didn’t think that likely. Though perhaps that’s just the naivety he has about the realm he’s grown up dreaming about… because it’s far succeeded his expectations, but so has his demon.

When the blond grew up, he hadn’t a clue as to what this demonic world might look like. Full of death and destruction, but what the manifestation of those words were, he didn’t know. No one knew, and maybe that’s what drew him in into studying about demons. To desire to protect the human realm from a world that might just be the end of humanity. It was both a fascination, and a wariness about the unknown war that was heading their way.

“Don’t say it like that, Bucky,” Steve scolds, looking back up fondly at the dark class, regardless of the pretend frown nestled between his blond brows. “You told me that I can’t _die,_ right? I’m tied to you.” As if to emphasise his point, the younger man rubs over the demon’s chest, right above his heart that could easily beat for the two of them.

“I know, my little warrior,” he says softly, muscular chest deflating with a heavy sigh that ghosts across the blond’s cheeks. “I just don’t want to lose you.” Regardless of everything the demon has experienced in his life time, the absolute horrors he has faced… Steve’s death is what he sees every time he closes his eyes. Just the mere thought of it sends a piercing pain into his heart, a dagger-like sensation that only ever relieves into a throbbing ache.

“I’m with you…” Steve smiles reassuringly, his voice quiet as he rubs their noses together until the dark class is forced to show the blond a smile of his own. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Steve.”

It feels as if Bucky is keeping something from him, but he wasn’t in the mood to cheekily pry, nor demand such information from the demon.

But whatever the reason for the attack, for their separation… it felt as if something was trying to test them.

And they passed.

Silver orbs stir awake in the lilac embrace of the stone chamber, charcoal feathers and luxurious coloured furs invading his vision… instead of the blond locks and pale skin he thought he would awaken to. Bucky blinked for a moment, trying to find the energy to awaken properly. The dark class had found it incredibly difficult to find solace in sleep that passing night, even with his lover tucked against him. But as the demon shifted to rest lax on his back, those silver orbs lazily cast around the silence of the cave. But when he still didn’t discover golden strands, Bucky abruptly jolts up, his face anxious as he looked more thoughtfully around him. Analysing. But he’s only met with grey stone and purple fires around the walls of the chamber, no blue eyes gazing back at him, and no porcelain skin for him to reach out and touch.

A deep, worried frown making itself known on Bucky’s expression, the fiend stands in one fluid motion, the furs falling suddenly from around his muscular thighs. The pelts landed on the floor with a dull rustle, abandoned by the once two happily sleeping forms.

The demon feels the beginnings of panic setting in, unsure where to even begin searching for the blond, for surely, he couldn’t have gone far? Right? Bucky could feel in his gut, through the strength of their bond, that the younger male was within reach, just not in sight, which could only mean that he’s nearby. As the fiend evaluates their bond, the flood of emotions between them is like an open gate to their hearts. Sensing no danger or worry from the blond, the demon heads towards the entrance of the cave, only to discover a small gap between the stone and the side of the chamber’s entrance. Silver eyes glow vibrantly in confusion, pondering how on earth his little warrior could have moved the doorway enough to get through.

One metallic arm grips the edge of the slab before sliding it further along to provide him with a big enough gap for his physique. Slipping through the widened opening, Bucky ponders his next move for a moment, thinking it unlikely Steve would have gone the way toward the lake. No, surely his lover knows he should stay close despite death not being an easy thing to be brought upon his new form? Just as he’s about to walk the path of the river to the waterfall drop, the demon perceives a low, frustrated groan. Puzzled by the tone that sounded very much like his lover, the demon curiously continues down his chosen trail.

There was a moment of pause, then another agitated grunt echoed throughout the cave before what sounded like a pebble scratching against the floor before falling into the river made itself known. Bucky knew that the noises were coming from his little warrior, he could sense that much more than anything else, practically able to see the outline of the amber aura now as he follows the track that led to the main exit of the cave.

Steve’s back was to the silently approaching dark class, his legs clad in tight, dark fabric while his feet and chest were exposed to anyone who may see him. Still, even with the clothing on (for Bucky would much rather his lover be naked for him to constantly gaze at) the demon still appreciated the beauty of the other. The way the sunlight filters through the round entrance Steve stands only a few feet away from, catching into the golden locks and making it seem almost as if those strands were spun from some exotic, shiny silk. Even the pale hue of his skin stood out alongside the dark walls of the cave and the shadowed flow of the river running next to those bare feet only to cascade off the sudden ledge.

Those slim shoulder blades glide with the movements of the cadet’s arms as he holds them out just a little way in front of his chest, one soft hand clenched and his elbow angled as if he was going to hold a shield. But as those pale toes shift against the ground, it’s obvious to the demon that the younger man has nothing in his grasp. But by the stiffness in those shoulders and the tense look embedded into his thighs, the blond has been trying for a long while to achieve something he’s beginning to feel is now impossible.

Bucky pauses a few paces behind the cadet, watching silently with interest. A further irritated sigh escaped the blond’s throat, and all of a sudden, those shoulders were becoming slumped with dissatisfaction, thin arms falling to align with jutting hipbones. Seemingly giving up, the younger man swivels on his feet, only to gasp and stumble when blue eyes landed upon the fiend watching him from the shadows.

“You scared me!” Steve exclaims, a chirp of laughter erupting from his throat, as if amused by his own foolishness of not noticing the demon’s arrival.

“What are you doing out here?” Bucky asks instead of apologising to his lover, taking a step closer as silver eyes travel across the curves and valleys of the younger male’s body.

“Nothing,” the blond replies, only to avert his gaze when the fiend’s eyes locked with his own.

“Steve,” the demon says, calling for the younger man’s attention. His little warrior cannot fool his own shadows.

The cadet shrugs as he folds his arms across his chest like some defiant child, or like someone who feels ever so exposed. Blond locks lower in something akin to submissiveness as he meets the demon with a small step of his own. Bucky doesn’t press further, but after a long moment, Steve finally lets out a breathy sigh, blue eyes remaining on the cool floor before he reaches a hand up to scratch the back of his neck.

“I was just trying to manifest… To see if I could still,” he confesses, shaking his head slightly before a bitterness began to show in his tone. A disappointment in himself. “As you might have seen, I haven’t exactly been successful.”

“You’ve experienced a lot of changes, Steve,” Bucky coos, gently cupping the blond’s face to bring those intoxicating orbs up to meet his own. “These things take time, they always do.”

“But I can _feel_ that our bond is cemented. It’s stronger than ever before, and yet I can’t seem to…”

“Can’t seem to what?” The demon urges, unsure of what exactly Steve is trying to say.

“Touch you.” There’s the slightest, tiniest wet glaze to the blond’s eyes, like glass as teary droplets begin to form, and yet they refuse to fall. Slender fingers grace the demon’s chest, sensing the warmth there before planting his palms upon Bucky’s pectorals. “It’s like I can’t get a grip on your power, and instead I’m just grasping at air. I can _feel_ you, but at the same time, it’s almost like my body isn’t willing to allow your shadows into it.”

“This body of yours is different, Steve. It will take some getting used to still. Your soul is locked within it, your aura surrounds your body…” Bucky explains gently, as if cautious of offending the blond in some way as his tone drips sympathy. “But your mind is still elsewhere, isn’t it?”

“It’s all just a bit…” The younger man leans his cheek into one of Bucky’s palms, eyes closing as if that might will some sort of explanation to the forefront of his mind.

“Overwhelming?” The fiend offers.

“Yes.”

“You’re over thinking things, trying too hard,” the demon ever so gently scolds, trying to get Steve to understand. The cadet must follow his instincts, what this new body of his is trying to tell him, rather than getting caught up in something that might actually be impossible for him. At least for the moment. Too much concentration, and one’s body becomes tense, and in that sense, it will reject any force that tries to flow into it. “That won’t get you anywhere.”

“I know that, but I don’t know how-“ The blond doesn’t get very far until the demon is cutting him off with firm, loving words. All Bucky wants to do, is help the younger man adjust.

“You need to accept this body.”

“I’ve done that,” he says defiantly, blue eyes snapping open in a frown.

“No, you’re forgiven me, that is not the same as accepting yourself.” Metallic plates shift as the demon lowers one hand to rest on one of Steve’s slender shoulders.

“I know that I can’t go back to living my life in the human realm with you.” That much he knows is impossible, despite what his heart yearns for. But in that sense, he’s very much torn between the two realms. Though more than anything, he wants to be with Bucky, even if that means having to abandon those he loves. It’s a case of being with who his soul yearns to be connected with. Their bond is stronger than any mental affections he had for those in the human realm. What he has with Bucky is special (always has been) and the dark class will always take priority in his heart. It’s like… he’s known the demon far longer than the four years they had been bonded by the military. “And I do want to be here with you.”

“But something isn’t quite right?”

“I feel… different.” Steve bites his bottom lip in thought, before letting the sensitive flesh go. The sensation isn’t as severe anymore, not every touch to his skin has him hyperalert or gasping with tingles. Although it still feels as if the top layers of his skin have been peeled away, leaving him bare with every nerve-ending working overtime. Steve ponders if he’ll ever feel quite right in this body, regardless of it feeling good to be _here_ with Bucky.

“I know. You _are_ , in a sense, and that’s okay,” he attempts to reassure the blond who peers up at him doubtfully. “Even your soul is still coming to terms with this existence, being tied to me in such a way, just as your mind is coming to terms with this realm and the life it holds within it.” The demon’s hand shift once again, fingers nestled against the crook of Steve’s shoulders while the pads of his thumbs stroke along his neck delicately, feeling the warmth of his body entwining with his own heat. Meanwhile, Steve’s own hands become loose fists upon the fiend’s firm chest, listening intently to what Bucky is telling him. “With time, you will feel as if you’re in your own body again, that you have control. Then perhaps you will be able to willingly take some of my power when you need it, for I will gladly give it to you.” Always. There’s no question about it. “You merely have to be patient.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” he sneers, yet there’s no real harshness to his tone, more like… a frustration. A dire yearning for everything to be as it should, and for it to _feel_ that way too. For the blond can’t get rid of this lingering sensation that something isn’t quite _right_ with this body he’s been gifted with.

“I’m only happy that I’m able to be with you.” The dark class has never desired to be with anyone else. Even those of his own kind. In his more than eight-hundred years of existence, it’s always been Steve he’s wanted, and needed. The blond has been his lantern of light for so long, for more years than Steve is even aware of. “I’ve wanted nothing else.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I keep forgetting that we were apart for so long when…” The cadet’s voice is quiet with his apology, only getting quieter still before the demon interferes.

“I still had your soul. That gave me hope,” Bucky confesses tenderly, leaning in to press their temples gently together. Steve welcomes the touch, feeling regretful about his earlier comment. “So, find what gives you hope, and hold onto it. Soon, everything will feel as if it’s fallen into place.”

The younger man didn’t answer for a long moment, as if those blue eyes were deep in thought as he stared right into silver rings that almost seem to glow in the shadow cast by fallen brown locks, soft strands that tickle the cadet’s face. As if those deep brown locks were trying to hide of the rest of the realm from his gaze. But it doesn’t matter, for the cadet’s focus is only on Bucky. In all honesty, if Steve has any hope of moving on to this new life that has been thrust upon him, then he only needs to think about being with his demon, for he knows that’s where he needs to be.

With an innocent, fond smile, the blond slides his arms down those thick muscles of Bucky’s chest, running feather-light fingers across his torso until he’s sliding his palms around the demon’s waist, only then do slender fingers join at the base of his spine. Black feathers ghost along his forearms, teasing him almost as he presses his temple more firmly against Bucky’s, their warm breaths intermixing in an unseen cloud of adoration.

“Okay,” he says the word spoken on an exhale, earning himself a sweet smile from his lover in return. “Be my hope for me.”

“Always,” the demon murmurs, eyes fluttering shut in sync with ocean blues, nudging closer. And then closer still until their lips caress tenderly, and finally meet in an ever so gentle, sweet kiss filled with nothing but their love for the other being.

Maybe, if it’s like this… maybe everything will be okay. Or at the very least, for the time being, they can pretend that their world isn’t going to come crashing down around them.


	9. An Unexpected Presence in the Shadows

“Isn’t this a little too far from the cave?” Steve calls out to the broad expanse of his demon’s back, those dark wings poking out through the skin either side of his spine. It was all so tempting to just reach out and allow his soft fingertips to rake across those coarse feathers, to feel their warmth drifting over his hands.

Although his counterpart lacks a shirt, the cadet adorns one, the sleek black material reaching all the way to his wrists and elegantly clings to his jutting hipbones; meeting with the fabric of his trousers that are just as tight around his limbs, very much like his demon’s attire. His pale collarbone is clear for the fiend to admire, and just the slightest bit red in one area where the demon had decided to gently nibble and suck the sensitive skin just that morning until the cadet had giggled and scolded him.

The material is thin, but this place is warm, as if the forest absorbs the sun’s rays, keeping the heat contained within the tree canopies. Even the ground feels warm as their bare feet pad against the faintly mossy flooring. Every so often, a red, gold or green crystal-like leaf would crackle under their steps, or a dulled twig will snap with the weight of one of them crossing between the gaps between the tall tree trunks.

“What makes you think that?” Bucky queries, casting a quick glance over his shoulder at his lover, needing to lower his wing a little to actually get a full view of the blond strolling behind him. Even after all this time, Steve still can’t fully believe just how big those wings belonging to his demon are. They could quite literally envelop the smaller male, suffocate him… but they have never brought him anything but tenderness. A sense of security. A shield akin to the one he could manifest back in the human realm.

“Well, we’ve been walking for… Well, since this morning and now it’s… almost night,” the blond cranes his neck back to peer through the leaves and the winding branches to take in the purples and pinks of the sky, signalling dusk surely approaching. “I think,” he murmurs, looking back at the dark class.

“I thought we could look around this side of the forest.” The demon informs him with a smile that for once seems almost carefree. Those silver eyes held onto those glistening blue pools before turning his attention in front of him; not that there was any risk of him tripping over any thick roots or not being able to sense another’s presence. The dark class knows this immense forest like he knows Steve’s body. “For you to see more of this realm.”

“Ah, I’m certainly getting the impression that it is vast indeed,” Steve teases, mocking what the fiend once so innocently, vaguely told him back in the confines of the cadet’s bedroom at the academy.

“Yes. There are many landscapes,” he replies, either going along with the joke, or completely oblivious to it. Sometimes the blond just can’t tell.

“And many creatures, too,” the younger male adds more quietly, not intending the demon to have heard, but he shouldn’t have thought something so foolish.

“I won’t leave your side.” Bucky stops so abruptly, that the blond almost walked right into that muscular back. Not that he would have complained, mind you.

The demon turned on his feet, those wings making little _whoosh_ sounds as he swivelled to fixate his gaze on the smaller man. There was a look of _guilt_ in those once seemingly cold eyes of his, and now they held such love and tender affections just for his little warrior. Not that Steve thought he was particularly deserving of such a title. But he wouldn’t dare question the fiend on that. It was something that he’s always seemed adamant about, not that the blond was sure why that is.

“I know you won’t. I’m not worried about that.” Steve smiles warmly at the fiend, taking those couple steps for the tips of their toes to meet upon the spongy earth.

“Then are you worried about something else?” Bucky asks tentatively, as if afraid of frightening some timid bird.

“No, not really…” The blond shrugs, stare darting to the side to admire a groove in the tree trunk at his right. It almost reminds Steve of an old burn, for the wood-like substance seems almost dark and crusted like fragments of soot caught in the trunk.

“Steve,” he says firmly, demanding the younger male’s attention. At least for those ocean orbs to look at him properly. When Steve didn’t move so much as an inch, metallic plates shifted until a finger was being held beneath the cadet’s chin, carefully guiding his face up to meet his own.

The blond found himself almost instantly caving under the stare of silver orbs, like rings of sharp metal piercing right through his heart. A hue which remains as lonely looking at the moon orbiting Earth, those once merely silver-flecked eyes not seeming to regain that blue to them anymore. Steve isn’t sure why that is, and honestly, he’s uncertain on whether even Bucky himself realises what his eyes look like- if he’s aware that they seem to change. But that loss of tide pool colours only serves as a reminder that his lover is as far from human as one can be. If those fierce, protective wings weren’t enough of a reminder. Just like always… Steve gives in. There’s no reason for him to resist Bucky; the demon would worm a confession out of him sooner or later.

“I just can’t stop thinking about what the Empress wants of us,” he sighs, his fingers playing with the hem of his sleeves at his sides, as if in an attempt at distracting himself; or as a way of trying to discard the negative energy building up within his chest.

But he doesn’t admit his worries to the demon merely because he has no one else to talk to here within this beautifully dangerous realm, nor because the dark class can feel those concerns throbbing through their bond regardless of whether Steve shows it outwardly or not. No, he talks to Bucky, because he trusts him, and knows that the demon would gladly bear the weight of it all with him. No matter how big or small. Life threatening or quite the opposite. Bucky is not one to judge him, and Steve will forever be grateful for that.

“There’s a reason for it, I’m sure,” the dark class promises, metallic hand falling to rest at his side. Though it only stays there for a brief second before reaching out to lightly grasp the blond’s clothed forearm, wishing he could feel the soft skin and tiny hairs beneath, but hoping the touch would be comforting nonetheless.

“Yeah, it being the price we have to pay for my life,” the younger man grumbles, perhaps a tad too harsh for what one might expect to fall past such caring lips.

“You sound bitter saying that?” The demon’s head tilts to the side like a confused puppy, the skin between his brows pinched in something akin to concern.

“What?” Steve questions, oblivious at to what seems to have riled the fiend up **.**

“Do you not think your life is worth it?” Bucky accuses, taking the blond by surprise as blue eyes widened. “Do you think this price is too much to pay?” The demon would gladly pay the price tenfold if it meant Steve being able to live at his side once more. For them to be bonded; to smile and laugh together. To make love as much as they desire.

“I think it’s going to be dangerous,” he states, avoiding the question as he attempted to shift the topic as much as he could without Bucky becoming suspicious.

“I would gladly put my life at risk to protect you.” Would more than willingly cross a thousand lands, take a million lives and endure whatever pain may be required of him, if it all meant protecting his lover.

“I hope you know I would, too,” he sincerely professes, those fingers leaving the hems of his sleeves in favour or reaching up to interlock at the demon’s nape, a few dark strands becoming entangled into his fingers.

“You already have,” the demon declares, his mouth a thin-line, as if just remembering such times brings him immense pain. An ache that may never quite ease entirely.

“So have you,” he counters. Bucky fought against death for him; got hurt just because he wanted to remain at Steve’s side. And to do that, he needed to defeat the biggest ghost of his past. Even if in the end, it wasn’t Bucky who achieved that.

“But you died.”

“And now I’m alive.” Steve tries to lighten those unhappy lips embedded into the demon’s expression with a soft smile of his own, but it clearly wasn’t working, so the blond’s smile only widened as blue eyes glistened. The blond’s voice is like syrup at he speaks, smooth and sweet with his love for the fiend. As if he was certain of this above all else. “We’re meant to be, you and I.”

How could the demon possibly even begin to resist such a tender expression? One full of youth and this odd naivety that everything will turn out fine, no matter the calamities, it never seems to be too much for them to handle. At least not when they’re together, united in such a way. Connected like two sides of the same coin, their bond acting like the rim welding them as one. Bucky wouldn’t ever have it any other way.

“That’s what I’ve always thought,” he says lovingly, completely honest; his words holding more truth to them than the cadet is even aware of. Simultaneously, the demon’s right fingers tickle up the blond’s waist until curving a sketchy path around the younger man’s rib cage, the new position allowing him to tug Steve’s smaller form against the demon’s far broader chest. A gasp of pleasurable surprise sneaked past plump lips, the blond’s hands around the fiend’s neck tightening a fraction, using his forearms upon his lover’s shoulders to keep himself steady on his feet. Not that he thinks Bucky would dare to let go of his tight hold of the younger man.

“Always?” The blond repeats fondly, if a tad amused by the demon’s choice of words. But despite them having known each other for only four years (though maybe four years was a long time, considering they have been apart for such an insignificant proportion of that time) it does feel as if their entire beings were made to be as one; that they’ve known each other since the very beginning. An innate closeness that Steve has felt since the start of it all, no matter how much he may have denied that at first. “You say that like you’ve known me my whole life,” he utters cheerfully, nudging impossibly closer to rest the side of his head against where the demon’s heart throbs so delightfully within his chest. Metallic plates drift up to secure around Steve’s slim waist, basking in the sensation of such an innocent embrace.

Resting his chin atop golden locks, Bucky is awfully silent in return, no snarky or teasing reply ejecting from his chest. The dark class is so quiet in fact, that the cadet can hear the slight intake of breath, and the soft exhale as he feels the demon’s chest constricting and expanding, pushing against his own. When after a moment, the fiend still doesn’t give some jesting remark to the statement, Steve pulls back just the tiniest amount before angling his head back to peer up at the demon, even if all he got as a view was the sight of his throat and the underside of his chiselled jawline.

“Bucky?” Steve calls to the demon cautiously, though more than that, he’s confused with his silence. The fiend lets out a low sigh, as if bearing the weight of something heavy before he leaned in to plant a soothing kiss against the smaller man’s temple. The blond was expecting some sort of answer, but instead, he found themselves detangling as the dark class gently pulls away. Instantly missing the warmth and security of his demon’s arms, Steve was about to reach out for him, yet his fingers were met with coarse feathers as the fiend turned around to continue down the worn path.

“Come on now, we’re almost at the next section,” he announces, switching the blond’s mind just like that with a hint of new information.

“Section?” Steve repeats curiously, immediately following after the fiend- not that Bucky would venture too far without him. The younger man could all too easily become lost in this realm. Could find himself immersed in shadows that do not belong to his bonded demon.

“Yes, there’s a break in the forest,” Bucky explains, staring forward as if almost… as if he couldn’t quite bring himself to look at the smaller male. But at least for the moment, Steve paid it no mind, despite this odd tingling in his very core. “A patch of barren land.”

“Okay? That sounds…” The blond drifts off for lack of a workd to finish his rather confused reply. He doesn’t quite understand why Bucky had seemed so eager to show this place to him if there’s nothing for him to truly see? A barren land surely doesn’t compare to the vibrancy of this forest? So why would Bucky bother to take him to such a place? He couldn’t wrap his head around it. “Interesting,” he finally adds after a moment of thought. Though it was more than obvious that he didn’t mean it. In reality there’s this slight inquisitiveness about it, for this is his lover’s world, after all. But the blond firmly believes that there must be other, far more unique and breathless sights to witness.

“Don’t sound so repulsed,” the demon scolds, a faint chuckle causing those charcoal wings to waver with the vibration.

“I’m not!” Steve scoffs playfully. “I’m just… the forest is so beautiful. Why are you trying to show me something that isn’t as…” The blond scrunches up his face, earning himself a laugh from the demon who, aware of Steve’s silence, glances over his shoulder at the golden-haired cadet.

“I think you will like it still,” Bucky tries to convince the younger man, sounding oh so sure of himself. Smug, even. In a way, it riled the blond up, bringing out this playfulness- an emotion that wasn’t really allowed to fizz in his cells while they were still seemingly at war. And now for the moment (at least for another moment) they are allowed to bask in cheerfulness, to laugh without having to glance behind themselves at every turn. Well, they _shouldn’t_ have to worry about someone or _something_ while here in this tranquil area of a vast land. That’s what Steve thought until… But even now, the cadet knows that it is surely unlikely that any of those creatures would come stalking after him again, not after what happened. A memory that still burns behind closed eyelids.

In all truth, the blond could have been severely hurt, and although Steve isn’t afraid of pain, and certainly doesn’t fear death, some foreign instinct had kicked in, and for once in his life, he backed down from a fight. His mother surely wouldn’t believe him if he told her. Well, leaving out the fact that what was chasing him were far from what any human would expect to attempt to hunt them down. He had felt so _vulnerable,_ a sensation he’s not used to, and he had hated it. Been disgusted with himself for running away, even knowing full well that there was no chance he could have fought off more than a dozen hungry, gaping jaws at once.

“Oh really?” He drawls, a lop-sided grin sneaking onto his lips, unable to fight it off.

“Yes, I may have said it was barren, but I didn’t say it was any less beautiful,” he says matter of factly, his words only intriguing the younger man further. Like someone dangling string in front of a kitten. Though too soon, the blond was blushing faintly with his demon’s next words. “Though nothing quite matches the standards of your beauty.”

“Wow, always the charmer. Anyone would think you’re trying to get into my pants,” the blond jests, more than just knowing that there’s some truth to that, not that the younger man minds. Not at all, in fact. The cadet certainly has no reason to reject any advances from the fiend; would even welcome them with his own flirtations. Because nothing feels more right than reaching the very edge of ecstasy with his demon, and falling over the edge together, their bodies connected in a way that satisfies their bond like nothing else.

“Such a strange expression…” The demon casually remarks, not needing to turn around for the blond to know that those thin lips were contorted in a devilish smirk. A smirk that he came to love so soon. “Besides, who says I’m not?”

“Funny, Bucky.” Steve rolls his eyes before shaking his head affectionately at the fiend’s broad back, before he’s unable to hold back his giggles. Upon hearing such a saccharine melody, the demon let’s out a deep, throaty laugh, the bonded pair creating an enchanting piece of music that echoes around the forest, skimming over the bodies of water that flow through the woodland.

“Just a little further,” the dark class announces once their laughter had gradually died down.

“Alright,” he chirps in reply, a slight childish bounce in his steps. Even if he’s still a little sceptical of the beauty of this place Bucky is leading him to, he knows that he will still enjoy their outing immensely. After all, he’s spending time with the being he loves the most.

“Here we are,” Bucky announces just as they approach a tight gap between two overbearing trees, the trunks seemingly thicker here, almost a white-wash grey hue as if some incredible storm had stripped their surfaces bare.

Steve glances up at the twirling branches high above them, a few smaller ones protruding from the trunk of the tree just a couple metres beyond their heads, growing intermittently around the tree higher and higher until seemingly morphing into far sturdier branches. The cadet thinks the tree would be perfect to climb, to reach the very top to peep over the glimmering leaves to watch the fiery sun set over the far-off mountains. And then, right there, it would be the perfect place to gaze up at the winking stars, with nothing but the cool breeze caressing one’s features, the rustling of the colourful leaves being the only sound to echo into the dark sky.

But the trees are not what they are here to see, and Steve is a little confused by what Bucky had meant as _barren_ , for the tiny, folded silver flowers growing over and between the rising roots of the trees are far from an unfertile land. And surely, taking into consideration the humid nature of this part of the woodland, the soil must be rich enough to support life? Steve can see it, after all. Invading his entire vision like some snow globe, every so often a leaf falling down onto the thin trail their footsteps have left behind. Well, it would have been a small trail if the tips of Bucky’s wings weren’t dragging against the ground with the faint, smooth elevations in the land.

Just a few moments after Bucky’s declaration, Steve was observing charcoal wings slipping through the gap between the tree trunks. As soon as those wings pushed through the slit, the blond was instantly blinded by the sudden orange and pink swirls of the dying sun as darkness begins to seek out the sky. Long lashes fluttering to adjust to the new scenery, it takes Steve a few seconds for his sight to sharpen, the haze of dull orange transforming into a landscape not quite like anything the cadet has ever seen. Bucky hadn’t been lying when he said that he was leading him to a barren land, because that’s exactly what the view was: an empty space of cracked soil surrounded by shimmering trees. The clearing seemed to be slightly oval shape, with its greatest length surely almost seven-hundred feet. Steve wouldn’t have called it _beautiful._ But rather… lonesome? Impressive, certainly. In its own peculiar way.

As the demon leads him a few steps into the clearing, Steve cast his gaze around with just a hint of confusion, the ground hardened with splits marring the otherwise porcelain surface.

“This… is it?” The blond questions hesitantly, blue eyes finally pausing on his lover’s smirk as silver orbs stare back at him in amusement. “Wow, uh, fascinating,” he says, a hint of sarcasm to his voice.

“Just wait a moment, my little warrior,” the fiend scolds affectionately, a slight _tsk_ before his words. “Come sit with me,” Bucky demands, as one might softly beckon a small animal to come to one’s side as the demon heads to one of the trees. The blond was rather confused until the demon’s back was pressing against the thick trunk, the sturdy roots forming a groove that Bucky’s wings can only just about fit in. It’s going to be a tight squeeze but… Steve doesn’t mind.

“Are we waiting for something?” Steve asks curiously, shuffling to stand between the demon’s bent knees, before settling himself down nice and snug against the warm rise and fall of Bucky’s chest. But, if the blond thinks that his question would be answered so simply, then he would be very wrong indeed.

“Something, yes,” the dark class teases

“Very mysterious,” the blond drawls, only a fraction unamused. Or perhaps eager would be a better term for it. “And what exactly are we waiting for?”

“For night to come,” Bucky hums in response, metallic plates reaching around to trace his fingers along the top of Steve’s thigh, the intricate sensors picking up every smooth fibre of the fabric covering them.

“So descriptive, thank you for that,” he retorts sarcastically.

“I promise this will be-“ the demon stills.

Just like that, Steve gets the sudden feeling that something is very wrong.

“Bucky? What is it? More of those creatures?” Steve can almost hear his heart beginning to pound loudly in his chest at just the thought of coming face to face with those beings again. But honestly, Steve isn’t sure if Bucky’s quiet answer is any better.

“No, it’s a demon.” A deep growl emits from the fiend’s chest, and Steve gasps softly as he felt the dark class shifting behind him, standing up with that vibration still caught in his throat.

“A demon?” Steve repeats, ducking his head as coarse feathers ruffled over golden locks as the fiend steps around him, taking slow movements towards the gap in the trees where they had entered the clearing.

“A young one.”

“Like, an actual demon child?” The blond gets up at that, for surely such low-level beings are of no issue to them? Which only begs the question as to what on earth Bucky is making a fuss about. Young demons can be… an annoyance, at least in comparison to demons like Bucky, or even Loki for that matter. For very low-level demons, in the human realm, the only real damage they can do is cause minor burns, static shocks, or even excess weeds in one’s garden. Once you reach level fifteen, or even twenty, that’s when they start to get more difficult for civilians to deal with. A level thirty demon is certainly cause for concern, at least for those who don’t have a demon to protect them. Or rather, to _use._ However, that’s not to say that the age of a demon at all correlates with their level; a young demon is still capable of being extremely powerful.

“Offspring, yes,” he grumbles, silver eyes fixated on the forest as he makes his way between the gaps, knowing his little warrior is right behind him, following him like a puppy unsure where to go or what to do.

“Then what’s the fuss?” Steve huffs out a laugh. “Surely it’s no match for you.” It’s not a question. The younger man is very aware of how powerful the demon is- one of the most powerful fiends to ever walk the earth. With the couple of exceptions being Schmidt and the Empress, he might just be the most powerful creature. At least that Steve is aware of.

“That’s not the point,” the fiend mutters under his breath, but Steve still caught the sound anyway.

“Then what is?”

Steve almost smacks straight into the fiend’s back when Bucky suddenly halted in his steps, wings fluttering in agitation. The demon catches the blond unawares as he briefly glanced over his shoulder at the younger man, as, expression one of distaste, unsettling Steve’s stomach as if some bug were crawling in his gut.

“Its mother,” he remarks, causing blue eyes to widen before those same eyes were met with the back of the demon’s head once again as he continued further into the woodland. Steve hesitantly follows after him, not wanting to leave his side.

“Even so, their presence should not bother you,” Steve tries to reason, figuring that the demon would probably leave the second they sense Bucky’s immense power. “What happened at the lake isn’t going to repeat again,” he says, though this time, his voice is so much softer- like silk trying to ease the fiend’s hardened mind.

“I can’t take that chance,” Bucky persists, this cloud of guilt causing this wavering focus. Or more accurately, the demon’s focus has been shifted onto something that shouldn’t even concern him.

“There isn’t a chance. You know it,” Steve attempts for the demon to see reason, but it feels as if he’s fighting a losing battle. “Let’s just go back to the-“ The blond abruptly stops right in place next to the fiend just a second after he stills, their toes digging into the faintly moist soil beneath the soles of their feet. “…clearing,” Steve finishes off weakly, confused by the absence of any being in front of them, but when he lifts his head to turn to look at his lover, something catches those ocean rings.

They are no more than a few paces into the forest, and the creature that is just above them, looks as if it had been spewed out of the woodland itself. The demon is no larger than a small dog, like a beagle, and yet reminds Steve of an agile monkey with the way its two long tails curl around a low tree branch, hanging itself upside down as if it were a part of the tree. If the blond hadn’t been expecting to come across a fiend, he probably wouldn’t have even noticed it, for it blended in so well. It’s obvious that the young demon is an earth class, though Steve couldn’t even begin to tell its Type, though one would assume it to perhaps be a trickster with its camouflage.

Its body is adorned with vibrant leaves that are seemingly glued to its skin, aiding it in blending in with the forest canopy around them. The only places on the demon’s body not decorated by the foliage, is its silver belly. The skin all cracked-looking as if it were made from tree bark. As Steve looks closer, four completely silver, oval eyes seem to peer back at him with an uncertain curiosity, the rings looking rather like its belly with dark, lightning-like lines sprouting diagonally across the large irises. The fiend has no ears that the blond could see, the leaves covering any sort of mouth or nose that would be otherwise obvious upon its round head. But as Steve looks closer, it appears as if the demon, not only has two tails, but two legs wrapped around its body, and then four arms doing the very same thing. As if holding itself like that might protect it from the dark class growling lowly at him. But the creature remains unblinking, as if willing the more powerful demon to let it be. Or rather, to melt into the background so that perhaps Bucky might not notice it.

“Oh… wow,” Steve whispers, in awe of the strange demon and its oddly endearing appearance. The blond wonders what sound it would make; how its form might change as it grows older, becomes more powerful with time. How they might display themselves in human form. It’s all so fascinating, and Steve feels like a scientist who has fallen onto a landmine of knowledge.

All of a sudden, a mass of angry-red fire was hurtling through the air right at the young demon who quickly dodges it as it scampers up the trees, limbs desperately waving about as it sought purchase and safety in the canopy. The ball of flames had landed on a tree further back, scorching the bark, giving it a glittery black look where the fire had landed.

Steve quickly swivels round to catch his bonded demon with a red flame vibrant in the palm of his hand, much to his disappointment. He saw no reason for Bucky to bother with the young demon, harming it would get them nowhere. The fiend was never bothered about them before, and certainly even its mother would be no match for him?

“Bucky! Enough!” The younger man scolds, gaining him the attention of the dark class. It took a second, but soon that flesh palm was no longer illuminated by destructive fire as the hand came to rest at his side, a deep scowl set between those brows.

The blond cast his gaze up again to find the young demon paused, looking down at them curiously. Or rather, watching Steve with interest. But with those expressionless eyes, Steve couldn’t quite work out if the fiend is intrigued, or perhaps fearful. Though just a moment later, the young demon _speaks,_ voice scratchy and pitchy, like when one gurgles water. Speaking in that now familiar demonic tongue, the creature only says one word, but it’s enough to bring confusion and terror straight into their hearts.

_Death._


	10. The Rise of Lights in the Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> Thank you all so, so much for your ongoing support! I can't believe I was able to stick to this update schedule haha (reasons below). So I hope you enjoy this update :)  
> Next update is scheduled to be the 26th November, and I think I can make that. However, I'm actually struggling to write recently. Not because I don't want to write, because I truly do and I'm so invested in this story. However, I'm actually struggling with a long term medical issue that's making it impossible to write anything on some days. That, combined with university being a pain with essays and at least 2 tests a week is making things very... hectic. Saying that, I am trying really, really hard to make sure there's an update for you guys every two weeks. But I think there are going to be cases where it's going to be longer than two weeks between updates. But do not think that I am abandoning this story or anything!! I love you guys and I want to continue this journey with you.  
> Thank you for reading! :) ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

_Death…_

Steve is certain that the fiend spoke that one word into the warm air resting between the beauty of the trees. It may have been uttered in that demonic tongue, the innate, naïve language of this realm, but the young warrior has heard it enough times to know exactly what _kyosw_ stands for. Just the sound of it sends shivers coursing down his spine, and he can’t even begin to imagine what feelings it forces to crawl in his beloved’s bones. At least, Steve firmly believes that’s what the demon said, and his uncertainty doesn’t just come from the fact that he saw no mouth move as it spoke. Rather, it seemed as if the word was emitted from the demon’s skin itself, as impossible as that might sound. The blond can only assume its mouth is hidden beneath the various leaves adorning its face. Well, what little of a face he can make out. But, in all truth, Steve is still learning to speak in the Forbidden Language. After what he’s been through, it’s not surprising if he starts mistaking things, and the mind is likely to play tricks on a vulnerable mind.

However, the blond doesn’t get the chance to contemplate much on the matter when suddenly there’s strong fingers clasping tightly around the bone of his wrist, tugging him away from the young earth class. As if Bucky were pulling some reluctant child from a candy store, Steve put up some resistance, his demon’s actions having caught him off-guard. And honestly… the metallic grip is a little too tight for his liking.

“Ah, Bucky-“ Steve exclaims, his tone lost on a gasp as if the wind had been knocked out of him.

“Let’s go,” Bucky growls automatically, that gruffness laced with a stubborn nature. But also… worry? Concern? Steve couldn’t quite isolate the sensation.

“Just like that?” He scoffs, trying to pull his wrist back as he struggled to cast his gaze to the young demon once more, only to find that it had scarpered away.

“Mm,” the fiend huffs, playing ignorance despite the blond’s obvious frown.

“What did it say?” Steve urges as they near the gap between the trees that opens into the empty clearing. Annoyance was clear in his tone, and it seemed to tug at the demon’s heart that such frustration was aimed at him.

“What?” Bucky glances over his shoulder with a certain nonchalance, those silver digits loosening their grip, though still keeping hold of his lover; pulling his wings tight against his back to lessen the awkwardness of tugging Steve through the gap.

 “It didn’t say anythin’,” he protests, as if he hadn’t a clue to what the other demon had spoken with its croaky, bubbly voice.

“I did, I heard it,” Steve accuses, instantly feeling the ghosts of Bucky’s fingers enveloping his wrist as the dark class lets him go. Only to pause the very second the blond’s next words asserted themselves past his pink lips. “I’m sure it said _death.”_

That mere word… it had the demon’s wings seemingly growing as the feathers puffed out like a bird trying to make a show of itself- defensive, and honestly, Steve is sure that he felt fear seep through their bond. The taut valleys of the demon’s broad back remain like a steady wall between them, those dark locks surely casting a shadow across those chiselled features. But the younger man couldn’t help himself, and he reached out a hand in a gentle attempt of touching one of those fearful wings. But before the soft pads of his fingers could grace the coarse feathers, Bucky was stepping away with a firm whisper.

“I didn’t hear anything, Steve.”

Steve isn’t sure whether he should actually believe the fiend or not. But he does know that the last thing he wants is for there to be any friction between them over something so _trivial._ They’re partners, in more ways than one, and Steve is confident that with all that they’ve been through, nothing could possibly tear them apart. Their bond is something unbreakable. Unique and… contains a hidden beauty to it.

Allowing his hand to drop remorsefully to his side, blue eyes observe the demon as he paces over to the crook in the tree, settling himself down there again as if the overbearing roots of the tree offered him some piece. It’s obvious that something is bothering the dark class, but Steve is uncertain of what he can do to possibly help him. After all, as terrifying as it is to admit it, he barely knows anything about Bucky. Especially where his past is concerned.

Pulling at his bottom lip in contemplation for a moment, Steve lets out a huff of breath before shuffling to where his bonded demon sat cross-legged, head down with his gaze locked with the ground beneath him. But Steve _knows_ that Bucky’ attention is solely on him. Each breath he takes, every tiny movement and all of the emotions that flow between the tight feeling in their chests.

“Bucky…” The blond whispers, finally coming to a slow pause in front of his demon’s folded legs. The cadet realises that Bucky’s past is a very, very sensitive topic, though he didn’t understand just how much anguish it causes him, even now. Just something as simple as mentioning the death class has him like this: defensive and distressed. Maybe even a little bit aggravated. If the blond ever seeks answers, he can’t go about it the way he just had, not with the dark class. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have questioned something like that,” he apologises, hoping that the fiend knows that the younger man never meant to dig further into the pit of what Bucky wants being left alone. Clearly, Bucky had been trying not to think about Schmidt, and that young demon just poured salt into a wound that hasn’t fully healed yet. And Steve was… he was tearing it open without realising. “The way I spoke, I-“ Steve doesn’t get to finish his apology before his demon’s tender words are filling the darkening air between them.

“I love you.”

Just those three words… Steve didn’t realise just how badly he needed to hear them. How much they fill his entire heart; swelling it, that warmth pulsing right into his vessels and every cell until his body couldn’t possibly take anymore of it. And in that regard, his own love for the other seeps out like pressurised water, desperately seeking space to fill in his demon’s chest.

With an innocent smile full of knowing, the blond knelt down right in front of the demon, his knees gracing Bucky’s shins on his way down. And just as those silver orbs looked up anxiously at his beloved, feeling smaller hands planting securely on his thighs, he’s met with pink lips caressing his own. Immediately, Bucky melts at the fully loving touch, those tight shoulders easing as he allows his mind to be soothed with the help of the blond pressing against him, even in these small ways, he feels them immensely. Eyes hidden behind dark lashes, soft lips move sweetly against one another, their hums of pleasure a whisper in their throats as their kiss breaks. Though their breaths very much linger, ghosting like tiny wisps upon the other’s skin.

“Love you too,” Steve murmurs at last, ocean eyes fluttering open to meet silver rings that stare right into his very soul. “You don’t need to say anything… but I know what that demon said. I’m not someone you can fool, Bucky,” the blond reprimands ever so lightly, like how one might tell a baby what is right and wrong.

The dark class opens his mouth as if to argue against that being his intentions with the smaller man, but the blond quietens him with a simple kiss to his cheek. As if stunned, the demon remains unmoving as he allows the younger male to shift until he’s sliding onto the demon’s lap, bony back against a muscular chest with those slim legs stretched out in front of them. Once Steve seemed content, Bucky then wrapped his arms loosely around his lover’s waist; relishing in the feel of having him close. But even like this, there are things that remain on the demon’s mind.

As if sensing those less than harmonious thoughts, Steve soothingly runs the tips of his fingers along the demon’s forearms that rest against his abdomen. But even with the loving touch, the blond is still aware that there’s something on the demon’s mind, though truthfully, he’s not quite sure what it is. Like some camouflaged creature escaping his sight. Pearly whites pulling the soft skin of his bottom lip, Steve planned a way to lift Bucky’s spirits, or at least take his mind off things that really shouldn’t bother them now… right?

“I know I’ve told you about how I was sick as a kid, and by some morbid miracle, we got the treatment I needed to truly _thrive_ …” Steve begins, as if he were about to tell a whimsical story to a child. The dark class nods against blond locks, unsure where the younger man was going with this, but intrigued nonetheless. “Well, once I got better… the very first time I could go out without my mom worrying about me… you know what the first thing I did was?”

“What?” Bucky chuckles.

“I went for a run,” he says simply, a slight nostalgia embedded into his tone.

“A run?”

“Yeah, the sky was grey, and it was raining a bit, and my nose was all red from the cold,” Steve giggles earning himself a little nuzzle of the demon’s face against the side of his throat. “And yet… there I was. The boy who could barely walk without upsetting his asthma running down the street like some lunatic. Like I was running for my life.” Truly, the scrawny boy got some very odd looks from the neighbours, especially those living in the apartment complex who knew just how sick Steve was. It was a miracle he even survived up until that point, he could have so easily died as a baby. That’s what they expected. “I guess in a way I was.”

“You were happy.”

“Ecstatic. Finally, I wasn’t so different to everyone, you know? I wasn’t a burden on my mom anymore. And that meant more to me than anything. Instead, I finally had a chance at helping others, and that’s all I’ve wanted to do,” Steve confesses, the smallest of smiles etched into his lips. “Admittedly though, I was exhausted when it came to climbing back up the stairs to get home again. My mom was annoyed with me, she wanted me to take it easy.”

“But you don’t regret doing it?”

“Not even in the slightest.” Why would he? He got what he wanted, and the young blond couldn’t wait to see what his body was capable of… It’s almost like a reflection of the situation he’s in now. “I wasn’t sure it would be enough though.”

“Hm?” Bucky frowns, unsure as to what his little warrior meant by that.

“Whether if being healthy would actually give me a real shot of getting into the academy,” Steve reveals. Despite him getting better, the New York military academy could still have just as easily rejected his application. Though they did seem a bit desperate for new cadets. Or rather, the military itself is desperate to gain more troops in the war against demons. A war Steve isn’t sure has even stopped. “But it seems it was.”

“You worked hard, they saw the potential you had.” Bucky doesn’t have to know Steve’s test scores to come to the realisation that the blond is a hardworking entity indeed. A force unlike anything he’s ever experienced. It isn’t just the dark class that makes Steve a unique, desirable warrior. Steve is so much more than the blond believes. But those who matter know it, and surely that’s all that the younger man should concern himself with?

“Hmm, well, they weren’t exactly going to kick me out when I got bonded to you,” Steve hums, turning his head round to peer at the dark class. “You’re too powerful. They wanted you.”

“They wanted _us,”_ Bucky insists. “But it’s only you who has ever had me.”

“Oh, I’m aware of that,” the blond teases, a lopsided grin brightening his features.

“What?” The demon raises one dark brow in amusement.

“Nothin’,” Steve laughs, pressing back against the fiend’s chest, absorbing his immense warmth.

“Come on, spit it out,” the fiend urges him fondly, adoration swamping his tone.

“I just can’t believe that I took the virginity of such a powerful demon,” Steve cheekily teases, eyes vibrant in pure mirth.

“Wow, someone talks of big game,” Bucky huffs, not quite able to contain his grin. Steve can only giggle in response, a light blush dusting his cheeks. “An eye for an eye, as they say.”

“Well, I’m glad that I gave mine to you,” he confesses more seriously, that pink hue only deepening as if rose petals were blooming beneath his skin. “Technically twice?” The blond says questioningly, before glancing up to meet silver eyes that bore into his own blue orbs.

“I think your soul remembers the first time,” the demon murmurs, his breath caressing Steve’s lips as he leans in close with a sly grin.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I was pretty good.”

“Mm, definitely. The way you could barely stop yourself from coming when inside me,” the younger man teases, their lips _almost_ touching as neither one of them can quite get rid of the goofy grins present in their expressions.

“That’s because you felt so amazing,” Bucky purrs, allowing their needy selves the luxury of a brief kiss before he found himself needing to finish exactly what he wanted to say, even though he struggles to find the right words to explain it. “I felt…”

“Connected?” Steve offers ever so quietly, their foreheads pressed together, even if a little awkwardly considering their current positions.

“Complete,” he sighs blissfully. Oh, he really does feel as if everything is as it should be whenever the blond is in his arms. Regardless of if they’re making love, or merely holding tightly onto each other as sleep overtakes their minds. “When I make love to you, I feel complete, connected to you in an intense way.”

The younger man is quiet for a moment, knowing exactly what Bucky is trying to tell him, for he feels the very same way. That connection between their hearts, the bond that they share only being tamed into a soothing rhythm when they are close, growing more vibrant with their ecstasy- that need to ultimately succumb to the other. It’s a sensation that cannot be replicated, it is unique to them, and not just because of their compatibility. In this world, their bond is seemingly that much stronger. More powerful in its own right.

“Wow…You really do know how to talk like a romantic,” the blond whispers, that blush tainting his cheeks not fading even for a second. In fact, the vibrant hue only deepens to the very tips of his ears, just about visible through those golden locks.

“I still don’t understand that,” the demon grumbles, frustrated just a little that there are still many things about humanity that he doesn’t understand. But in that respect, they’re both in the same boat, in that each other’s ways of existence are rather unique and strange to the other.

“You don’t have to.” The younger male smiles bashfully, before pressing a simple kiss to the very edge of Bucky’s lips, easing away his frown just like that. Their forms are enveloped in a pink glow of the sun that is only just barely peeking behind the towering trees, casting the barren landscape in a soft glow. But as the sweet kiss turns into another, and then another as the demon leaned in closer to properly capture his lover’s lips, the two didn’t quite notice those last rays of the sun light fading away. Their forms are gradually shadowed by the roots in which they sit between, large wings only obscuring the sides of their arms and legs further from the light of softly glowing leaves high above them, and the three moons set even higher. Steve was utterly lost in this shared moment of serenity, but far too soon, the dark class was breaking their kiss, despite a whine of complaint pushing past pink lips. Honestly, the blond had forgotten what they even came here for, though he would really just rather become intoxicated by Bucky’s kisses, and maybe just a bit more than that.

“I brought you here for a reason, my little warrior,” the demon chuckles affectionately, silver eyes shining through the darkness to watch those pouting lips of his lover.

“Mm, just one more kiss,” Steve innocently pleads.

“You don’t feel that?” Bucky murmurs, causing the younger man’s expression to freeze. Pink lips parted to question the fiend, confusion etched into his features, when he truly did feel it: a tremor beneath them. As if a giant speaker had been placed into the quiet forest, causing a disturbance in the earth. As the beats of a drum or the tune of a bass was vibrating through the roots of the trees.

“What is that?” Steve gasps as the reverberations increase, allowing the younger man to finally perceive the actual sounds of the earth altering right under them like the face of a drum.

“Just keep an eye in front of us, or you’ll miss it,” the dark class instructs, urging him to look forward at the stretch of sudden wasteland. As if nothing dared to try and grow on the seemingly dry surface.

“What’s going on?” The blond has absolutely no idea what’s happening right under them, as if the once peaceful land is being disturbed- shivering with fright. All he knows is that his heart is beating fast with adrenaline, a part of him cautious as to what might be going on. Yet, he knows Bucky will keep him safe.

“Keep watching,” the demon commands, rather amused at Steve’s confusion. But he hadn’t expected anything different. Though he’s certain that the younger male will become captivated with the landscape soon enough. They just need to be patient…

“Bucky, I don’t see anything,” he professes, nothing but certain, and yet the dark class seems just as sure that he will be impressed in a mere few moments. Steve isn’t sure what he’s supposed to be looking out for, but he keeps those ocean rings of his firmly on the barren land stretched out in front of him- as if something long ago had disturbed the forest and stripped it bare. Giving it this nakedness that is a vast contrast to the richness and beauty of the woodland that Steve has experienced these past couple… weeks? Ah, his whole concept of time is off.

“Just a few seconds, look carefully,” Bucky hums, leaving distracting kisses and smirks against the blond’s unmarred throat. Steve sighs at the touch, though he can still distinctly hear his heart hammering away in his chest- an organ that has no need to beat, but still instinctively does so.

“Look carefully for wha-“ Steve’s words come to an automatic halt as he finally gets a glimpse at what he believes Bucky had brought him here to witness. And oh, a beautiful sight it is indeed. Like nothing the blond has ever seen- something that stands very true at each corner he takes within this demonic realm. Surely it wasn’t possible, but he sees it right before his widened gaze; completely captivated by the sight like a deer entranced by the headlights of a car.

The dull, barren landscape suddenly has this sheer _life_ creeping into it, and not from the three moons high above them. No, the infertile clearing is illuminated by something else entirely. The branched cracks across the land are no longer filled with seemingly endless shadows, but colourful lights of vibrant greens, purples, blues and reds. Like little bulbs of neon lights and yet there’s this ethereal feel to them; a mistiness as the lights slowly grow in their intensity, as if gaining more energy by the second. As if those lights were becoming a tangible essence in the land, and before Steve knew it, they were becoming exactly that. As the light swelled up the sides of the crevices, the younger man perceives the first sharp peaks of what Steve can only describe as crystals protruding from the earth between those cracks within its surface. Slow, as if the thick and thin shards are timid about revealing themselves to the cool air of the night, exposing themselves to the pair of watchful eyes only a few paces from being amongst the crystals. Mesmerised, Steve can’t help but stare until they come to a sudden stop, stilling like a painting right in front of them. Some of the crystals reach as tall as the demon’s shoulders, while others are only as small as his ankle around the very edges of the clearing. Yet all have this almost dense, see-through appearance to their tight shapes; each containing this vibrancy that is reflected in the whites of the younger man’s eyes, those blue irises tinged with spheres of purples and greens.

“What… I…gods, they’re so beautiful…” Steve whispers, barely able to get his words out, for his mind is so entrancing by the mere sight invading almost all of his vision. It’s so _bright,_ as if the sun itself was trapped in each of the glistening stones, brimming with this _warmth_ despite the cool breeze washing over them.

“Mesmerising, isn’t it?” Bucky says quietly into his lover’s ear, his steady gaze shifting from the younger man to the shimmering expanse laid out before them. “This is the only one I’ve ever seen, I haven’t come across any other. But even I haven’t explored the entire realm,” he confesses to the dazed cadet. Until Bucky’s words snapped him from his thoughts, and his bewitched stare shifted from the crystals to silver rings expectantly.

“The only one you’ve ever seen?” Steve repeats, confusion woven into his tone. “What do you mean by that?”

“What you see, is a _Radak-xir,_ ” the demon reveals, gravitating the blond’s attention back in front of them as he explains exactly what it is that the younger man is witnessing for the very first time.

“Ray-dack-xee-rah?” The cadet tests the foreign word on his tongue, slowly gaining a bit of an accent with such demonic speech after all this time. But more than anything, he’s intrigued to learn more. Though that always seems to be the case the moment he has an opportunity to learn more about the dark class and the realm of his birth. “Wait… so it’s a living creature?”

“Mhm,” he hums in response, though he can practically feel his lover’s disbelief floating through the river of their bond. The blond finds it hard to imagine that the crystals they see right now belong to some actual being- a living, breathing entity. “Imagine it as… a big-“

“Huge,” Steve corrects, for surely this creature must be ginormous if it covers the entire expanse of the clearing.

“Alright, then,” Bucky chuckles, amused but continuing nonetheless. “Imagine it as a huge _bug_ with a hardened shell like one of those creatures you call a… tortoise?”

“Like a beetle, then?” Steve offers, uncertain but still so very eager to learn more of the being, for he’s sure that Bucky wouldn’t have brought him here if the creature posed any danger to him. Even if just a tiny bit.

“Yes. Its body is quite round with dozens of short, curved legs,” the dark class describes to the younger man, captivating him again and again with each new reveal of information about this seemingly gentle giant. “And what you see are the crystals embedded into his back.”

“How? I mean, _why?”_ The younger man glances over his shoulder for only a brief second before those ocean orbs swarmed with colour once more.

“The Radak-xir is a creature of the earth, this one here, is thousands of years old,” the demon explains, causing a light gasp to part form the younger man’s lips. For Steve, the creature even being near as old as the dark class would be impressive! To discover that the Radak-xir right before them is thousands of years old… the blond doesn’t know what to think except from be ever so impressed. Bewildered, even. But, it also makes the younger male sense this _loneliness_ emitting from the creature. Surely such an enormous being must hold some sort of intelligence? Then again, Steve is unsure how smart a gigantic bug can be, even in this demonic realm. It’s a fascinating thought to contemplate, and Steve can only eagerly continue listening to the demon. “It is thought that their shells take on the appearance of their original birthplace.”

“Original birthplace?” The blond queries.

“The birthplace of their ancestor.” In that respect, these creatures are rather unique, split into a few separate lineages where their shells differ according to the first Radak-xir of that section of the Netherworld. The one resting right in front of them, beneath their feet in this moment, had an ancestor born amongst crystals within a glistening mountain not so far from the serenity of the vast forest.

“How do they reproduce, then?” Steve brought his lower lip into his mouth as soon as the words left him, a little embarrassed about asking as he nibbled the silky pink flesh.

“It’s a bit complex,” the dark class mutters.

“Do you know if this one is male or female?”

“It is both, and neither.”

“Then… How are new ones born?” The blond frowns, a bit confused, for surely even if this one is thousands of years old, it must have come about in some way, for Bucky even mentioned the beings have ancestors.

“There are two ways: either they die, and a new one grows from the remains. Or-“ Bucky doesn’t get to complete his explanation before the younger man is interrupting him innocently, excitement embedded into the lightness of his stone.

“Like a phoenix?”

“Like a what?”

“A mythical- ah, forget it.” Steve shrugs, a small giggle breaking free before he forced himself to behave. “You may continue.”

“Or…” The demon continues slowly, his amusement of the younger male’s laugh clear “… they can produce a copy of themselves in these round eggs.” Akin to pearls, in fact. Capable of being as large as five footballs each, containing just one small larvae. Well, small in relation to how large the adults are.

“Like asexual reproduction?” The blond queries out loud, not expecting any sort of confirmation from the dark class. Instead, Steve saves his lover from embarrassment by merely moving onto another question that plagues his mind. “What do they eat, then?”

“They are incredibly slow creatures that feed off the light of the _moons,_ as you call them,” the fiend gladly indulges the younger man with information. After all, it’s about time he’s completely honest with Steve. Keeping secrets can no longer allow the dark class to protect him. In this realm, Steve has to be aware of all it contains, otherwise he’ll undoubtedly get hurt. “For this Radak-xir, the crystals soak up the rays, transforming it into energy to keep it alive.”

“Wow,” Steve sighs dreamily, pressing back against the demon’s chest. “Seems… peaceful. How long can each one potentially live for?”

“Theoretically? For as long as the moons are still present in the sky,” the dark class reveals quietly, nuzzling against golden strands that tickle the tip of his nose with every inhale of that sweet scent. Steve almost can’t believe what he’s hearing, and yet he’s set at ease with the knowledge (or rather, hope) that Bucky wouldn’t dare lie to him again. Being in this land gives the blond the _right_ to know all it has to offer him.

Several peaceful minutes later, and there’s not a sound for miles around. Only the gentle melody of a breeze tickling against their legs, bouncing off of the protective layers of feathers that stand like a wall at their sides.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” Steve whispers, reaching back a single hand to entwine into the demon’s brown locks. Using that hold, the younger male tenderly pulls the dark class down a little so that he could place a grateful kiss upon his cheek… then his jawline, taking in the slight salty taste of Bucky’s skin. “It’s beautiful…”

“Of course, my little warrior. I knew you would like it,” Bucky chuckles, a little smug. But the golden-haired man doesn’t mind one bit. Not when he’s suddenly being questioned… “Would you like to take a walk with me?” Because surely the demon doesn’t mean to go for a walk through the crystal field, right?

“Hm?” Blue eyes tilt in confusion, trying to decipher his lover’s words.

“To get a closer look at them.” Bucky jerks his head slightly towards the crystals.

“Really?” Steve exclaims, a thrill heightening his tone, akin to a child unable to contain their glee.

“Up you get then.”

The cadet doesn’t have to be told twice, for he’s instantly jumping up from the demon’s legs, accidentally elbowing his lover in the process. But the slight _oof_ goes unnoticed by the blond as he steps up to the boundary where the first set of crystals peak up out of the ground. It’s surreal to think that there’s a breathing creature right under their bare feet. Steve doesn’t even realise that he’s completely stilled until he feels something touching his hand: his demon’s fingers entwining with his own. The younger man smiles affectionately up at the fiend, securing their fingers in a tighter grip before he’s urged forward into the maze of gems he could honestly lose himself in.

Whatever happened earlier with that young demon… whatever it said… this is as good of a distraction as any.


	11. Maze of Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the slight delay. Thank you all for your continued support! ❤︎  
> I am aiming for Chapter 12 to be uploaded on the 10th of December. If there's any major changes to this or to scheduled updates in the future (aka the chapter will be delayed for whatever reason) the update date at the bottom will change, and I will make temporary notices on IG & Tumblr. :) For now, enjoy this longer than usual chapter!

If it weren’t for the glistening, pointed crystals all around them, Steve would firmly believe that he was walking on clouds everything just seems so surreal. The cracked earth where the crystals protrude from feels hard and dry beneath the soft pads of his feet, dirtying the pale skin in a layer of sand-coloured dust. Despite being full of colour, blue eyes can just about see through the shimmering crystals that seem to soak up the rays of the full moons. It’s almost odd that Steve hasn’t seen any sort of crescent shapes in the sky- they are always swollen with light as far as the younger man has witnessed. 

Slender fingers are still entwined with larger digits, their palms joined in a leisurely grip as they explore the crystal maze, watching their coloured reflections in their smooth surfaces. The further they ventured into the field, the taller the crystals became, enough to have Steve looking up to peer at their pointed ends, as if sharpened to contrast the smooth edges of their lengths. In the centre of the crystal clearing there’s this huge mass of gems that stretch further than the demon’s wingspan, reaching twice Bucky’s height. The stalagmite-like structures are rich and varied in colour, angled out like a colossal sea urchin. So enchanting, that Steve can’t help but reach out a hand to touch the end of one purple crystal, feeling the-

“Ah,” the blond gasps, his fingers jolting back. “It’s warm!” He exclaims, turning to look at a rather amused fiend right at his side. The demon chuckles, leaning into the smaller male a fraction before straightening once again. “I wasn’t expecting it to be,” Steve mumbles, his cheeks turning a shade of cherry-blossom pink. Ocean orbs cast down despite sensing the demon’s doting smile upon him.

“Steve,” the dark class coos, beckoning the blond’s attention back up to silver rings.

“Hm?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” Bucky confesses, instantly causing such an endearing blush to falter into that natural pale complexion. “About… my kind,” he says hesitantly. Steve says nothing. No questions or urging the fiend to continue, for once willing to allow Bucky to set his own pace without any sort of nagging from the younger man. Whatever the demon decides to tell him, Steve would absorb that knowledge without questions, just acceptance.

The blond nods just slightly, giving the go ahead for the fiend to continue. But Bucky doesn’t at first. Instead, the dark class tightens the grip on Steve’s hand, before taking a step back around the cluster of crystals, tugging the blond slightly in a subtle hint of continuing their walk amongst the maze of light. It’s a few moments until Bucky seemed to gather the courage within himself to finally speak whatever was on his mind.

“Auras are… more complex than humans believe,” the demon begins, instantly causing a silent frown to dip between the blond’s brows. Though Steve firmly refrained from questioning why Bucky brought themselves to this topic. “They can fade with one’s diminishing lifeforce and become more prominent in those full of life. In that respect, the energy they contain can be _consumed_ by demons in a sense. Not just human auras, or other creatures, but we can absorb the auras of other demons. We can take the energy they contain when we kill another,” the fiend explains without any show of remorse or regret. The fiend has no reason to ever feel guilty about the lives he has taken… at least not recently. The dark class has been forced to do unspeakable things before, but he was once young and naïve, and under the control of death itself. But if everything has brought him to Steve, then he would gladly relive every moment of pain he has ever endured. “But for beings like humans, when we kill, we can take their soul. It becomes tied to our own energy, helping us to gain more power.” Yet no soul has ever enticed the dark class as much as Steve’s own alluring soul does. The very second Bucky had sensed it… he was addicted. He _knew_ he had to be near the being who had that mist of amber surrounding them. Like a shark caught on a hook, he had been reeled in and brought onto land. And yet with Steve in his arms, he feels like he’s deep under water, as if for the first time in forever, he can finally _breathe._

“It’s the same with bonded demons?” Steve guesses, eyes shimmering in intrigue, like little fishes swarming in those glistening ponds.

“Yes, during the bonding process… your soul became bound to mine without your soul technically _belonging_ to me,” the demon frowns at the thought, as if such a time causes him pain. Because _this,_ the bond that they share now is undeniably gratifying to that demonic part of his existence. Every demon craves having souls within their possession. It is the most baser instinct amongst them all. Bucky just so happened to also want something else from a certain blond soldier. And after time, he got just that: love. It’s… more fulfilling than anything in the demon’s life. Steve gave him a purpose so different to what he was used to. Bucky is no longer a mindless killer, lost under the control of Schmidt. The younger man even gave him something Bucky finds more satisfying than being close to his soul, possessing it… Steve gave him _hope._ Combined with their love for one another, the dark class couldn’t possibly wish for more. This is the epitome of all that Bucky has yearned for all his life. He feels connected to Steve, and he knows the blond feels this way more than ever as well. Bucky will do anything for him. Will protect his love, and hope, no matter what. “Humans in that respect are like vessels of energy for their bonded demon. As if… think of it as forming a bridge, allowing that transfer of energy between human and demon.”

“That’s how we can manifest weapons.” It makes sense to the blond that way, and honestly, now that Bucky has explained it, everything seems so much more… simple? Or rather, for so long scientists have been searching for the answers, and Bucky is handing them to him willingly.

“You become stronger with the potential to manipulate part of our power that runs across the _bridge._ We in turn can become stronger as the bond cements, as we gain further access to that human energy. And each kill a human makes with manifested weapons, we absorb the energy from that demon,” Bucky explains, as if he weren’t talking about murdering his own kind. But quite honestly, it’s something the fiend isn’t bothered with. Steve is his priority. Some of the things he’s done… he’s questioned. But there’s no reason for him to do that anymore. Rather, he should just focus on keeping the blond safe, and forget any lingering spirits that might attempt to haunt him now that death is no longer breathing down his spine.

“Bucky,” Steve calls out softly, tugging the demon’s hand to gently force their feet to stop wandering the crystal-encrusted field.

“Yes?”

“Why are you telling me this all of a sudden?” The blond questions with a furrow of his brows, as if someone were pinching the skin there as he attempts to figure out why his demon brought up the topic.

“Just… giving you a history lesson,” he replies, silver orbs cast down as he takes a leisurely step closer to the younger man, automatically welcomed into his space as one metallic arm wraps around that slim frame. “I want you to understand everything, and this is important.” Bucky isn’t sure how else to explain the thoughts that plague his mind like a murder of hungry, pecking crows.

“Alright, I’m listening. Always,” Steve insists, desperately trying to push down the questions he finds himself yearning to ask. This is a time where he cannot prod the demon, but rather, allow the fiend to tell him what he wishes to indulge him in. After all, the blond believes that there’s something far more important that the demon is working up to telling him about. Steve hasn’t a clue what it might be; he can merely wait and absorbed every piece of information the dark class provides him with.

“It was… a long, long time ago when I first met the Kyosw,” Bucky began, as if he were about to tell some sort of story that contains a horror within it. As if just speaking of the past brought the demon physical pain. Even of times when his life wasn’t so bad, Schmidt has affected Bucky so much that every thought involving the death class has the demon’s cells tingling with the lingering sensation of sheer agony. “Ah, I suppose he found me to be more accurate. I was alone, and he offered me something I had been searching for: a purpose.” The dark class remembers such a time- where every creature he came across was _terrified_ of him, despite him being only a child. When Schmidt found him in a desolate place, Bucky had spent so much time alone in isolation already from those around him, that a part of him was desperate for some sort of companionship. For another being he could talk to that wasn’t going to run at first sight of him, or try and attack him with a last effort of escaping the dark demon’s overpowering existence. For him to have a _purpose,_ instead of more aimless wandering with no idea of where to go or what to do with himself.

“A purpose?” There’s a strangeness to what Bucky says as far as the blond is concerned. From as young as Steve recalls, he’s always felt like he had a purpose in life. He knew that even when he was sick, that he wanted to desperately help others in whatever way that he could, even if it would be the death of him. And when his father died, as heart breaking as it was for him and Sarah, it meant that he could push those dreams of his one step further, and finally have hope of joining the military academy just as his father had done. So, it’s safe to say that there’s never been a time in his life where he’s felt at a loss with himself. Steve has always had a goal in mind, and that was to change the world. Whether he’s done that or not… the blond just doesn’t know.

“He wanted me to fight alongside him,” the demon says, though this much he believes the blond could _click_ into place quite easily, and it does just that.

“The demon war…” Steve is well aware of the fact that with Bucky’s age, he was around for such a time. The dark class has always been open about such a fact; how his Type was changed because of this war, and probably much more that Steve isn’t aware of the extent of. Like of the pure torture of how it felt for a deadly blade to sink into the flesh of Bucky’s left arm, tearing it from the bone until the fiend couldn’t deal with the pain anymore, and when he woke up, a piece of himself had been taken, and replaced with something that continued to haunt him for years to come.

“Yes, it’s something that had been occurring in our realm for far longer than when it bled through into your own.” Bucky felt like he’d been a part of it for an eternity, though he had really only fought in a mere fraction of the destructive war.

“The Kyosw was responsible for it?” That much Steve could guess already from what Bucky has been telling him all these years. The death class was clearly someone without kindness or a sense of mercy- it’s not that much of a leap to assume that such a being like that is capable of causing destruction across their own realm. That such a creature would cause enemies not only of its own species, but humanity too. In that respect, Schmidt’s own existence is responsible for the fear that swept across the human realm and caused the dire need for thousands of soldiers in a desperate hope of keeping that realm from not becoming overrun… knowing that death was sure to come after them sooner or later, and all the darkness that comes with it.

“The war was between two divided sides: those who followed the Kyosw, and those who followed the Empress,” Bucky reveals, as one might explain some complicated game to another.

“But why… why fight?” Steve really couldn’t see what sort of reason could tear an entire realm into two. Then again, simple disagreements and selfish needs have brought human civilisations to ruin time after time. In such a sense, there’s really very little difference between those of demonic origin, and those who claim humanity.

“The Kyosw was greedy, he wanted to invade the human real to take human souls, amongst other things… but the Empress was against this. In fear it would upset the balance of the realms. She hid something important, and the Kyosw wanted it.” The demon war was a long war indeed. Even Bucky himself isn’t sure when exactly or even how such a disagreement first came about that caused total chaos within the demonic realm. The relationship between the Empress and Schmidt was certainly a complex one, that no other demon is capable of understanding. But it’s only logical, for even the dark class hasn’t come across any demon older than either the Empress, or Schmidt.

Steve thinks that explains an awful lot. If the Kyosw came through into the human realm without the need for a fight... it’s quite possible that humanity would be dead. Gone just like that. An apocalypse that only some have been dreading and preparing for years for. But no amount of time could have possibly put members of the human race into a position of survival if the whole of the Kyosw’s army came crashing through into their world. Despite advancing military efforts, when a demon is powerful enough… when they join forces… they have an invincible power that humanity has no chance of ever matching.

“The Empress has been keeping him back all this time.” Well, there was a moment when she lost control, seemingly disappeared for a moment and in that simple moment, Schmidt’s forces had overpowered her own, and brought the war amongst humans. But regardless of how long it felt for humanity, it was only a small piece of time that such a thing occurred. Like in all cases of war, there are times where each side seems to be succeeding in overpowering the other, even if just for a moment… 

“What changed though? The war stopped… though now more than ever demons have been leaking through into the human realm.” If the Empress has been stopping Schmidt from sneaking into the human realm, then why didn’t her followers also stop Schmidt’s own from wreaking havoc in the human realm? And if the war had finally ended, then surely Schmidt did not win otherwise the entire world would be one of ruin. Instead, the death class had painfully slowly made his way to humanity- broken past the forces holding him back bit by bit. The Empress is clearly alive, so why did she not do more to stop death in his tracks? How could she allow Schmidt to cause such chaos… why did peace never come until Steve himself slaughtered death? Ah, but even the cadet can’t be sure that his actions have saved humanity. The blond hasn’t a clue what’s going on in his birth realm, only that his mother and comrades are safe for the time being. But Steve is well aware of how quickly life can be taken away. Did killing Schmidt actually change anything where the war of humans and demons is concerned?

“They have merely been Schmidt’s scouts... and some have been demons who merely seek souls. The war itself never quite stopped. Even when there was no fighting in your realm, there was still much blood being spilt here.” Bucky should know as such, he’s been a fierce driving force in vibrant blood staining the demonic earth. “The Empress merely had the upper hand again for the moment.” Like a game of tug of war, sometimes a different side gains more strength, but stamina is not plentiful, and so sometimes those forces weaken, or are overcome by the other side’s boldness altogether.

“So, what happened? What made you not want to fight for the Kyosw anymore?” Steve asks, for if Bucky is telling the truth and was so desperate for a purpose… why did he suddenly change his mind, and abandon something he’d been searching for so long for?

“I never believed in what he was fighting for in the first place,” Bucky admits. He had only wanted something to keep his intelligent mind occupied… though his power was all that Schmidt actually wanted. The dark class wasn’t seen as a ‘human being’ as it were, but an object to be used in the midst of war. A weapon of mass destruction that could make the difference between success and failure. “I was just a pawn, I had no interesting in taking human souls. It seemed pointless. Slaughtering my own kind… I got no pleasure or displeasure from it.” The demon is entirely indifferent to it. The only being who matters to him, is Steve. There hasn’t ever been anyone else… But there are a few who he owes his life to, though even that doesn’t change how he feels about his own kind. Perhaps Bucky’s isolation in his early years affected him far more than he realised.

“What about my soul?” Steve asks tentatively, as if afraid that the demon has suddenly changed his mind and realised that his amber soul is nothing precious. Nothing sacred. Just energy the demon craved on some baser level… or was fooling himself into thinking he needed.

“You are the exception, but I’ve always yearned for more than just your soul, Steve.” As if to emphasise the words spoken from his heart, the dark class leans in to nuzzle affectionately against Steve’s cheek, caressing up until the tip of his nose becomes buried in the ends of golden tuffs. “You’ve been my hope for longer than you realise,” he breathes out, almost as if reliving a dream he never wants to forget. That first sign of hope the demon ever truly had… that moment will stay with him for an eternity. “When I first sensed you… I finally felt as if I had a chance at truly living.”

“What do you mean?” He questions, craning his neck to catch a glimpse of the demon’s expression, as if that might provide him with the answers he seeks.

“It doesn’t matter, I have you now.” The demon shakes his head with a smile before taking a step away, gently urging the younger male to follow him through the maze with a squeeze of his fingers around Steve’s own. The blond doesn’t believe that the dark class is telling him the entire story: for the first time, Steve thinks that perhaps the pair had met long before even being bonded at the academy. The younger man just can’t quite seem to place where and when exactly. Then again, maybe what his gut is telling him is wrong. “Before that, I managed to escape. The Empress tried to help me escape through her followers. The first time didn’t go so well…”

“He hurt you?” The words fell from his lips before he could bite them back, because isn’t it obvious? The dark class has scars for a reason, and there’s few creatures capable of giving the demon such scars.

“I don’t want to speak of that time in detail… Just know that one day, someone helped to free me. And I’ve been on the run ever since, trying to keep away from the Kyosw,” Bucky reveals, looking towards the crystal landscape to hide the pained look etched into the contours of his face. Besides, even Bucky isn’t entirely certain why the one who helped him escape did as such, considering that as far as Bucky was concerned, they firmly worked under the death class. Though they did have an undeniable streak of defiance… but Bucky has a hunch that the Empress had a role in getting them to help Bucky escape Schmidt’s hold.

“The pendant kept you safe?” The blond guesses, his free hand automatically going to his chest where the stone used to press into his skin. Where exactly the pendant is now, the blond isn’t sure. Not that it matters, for the pair are effectively _safe_ within this realm now that the death class is gone. Regardless, the cadet is sure that Bucky must know of its whereabout, but such a thing isn’t important right now. They are discussing the past, not the present or future. “She gave it to you?” He assumes, referring to the supposedly merciful, kind Empress. Someone whose intentions the younger man isn’t sure of.

“Yes, I managed to activate it at last upon my escape. But even with the pendant, I had to keep moving, for the Kyosw had eyes everywhere.” Only when completely isolated once again, never quite settling down anywhere was the dark class somewhat safer from those who obediently followed wherever death led them. There are times that Bucky found solace, like the solitude of the cave he brought the younger man to- somewhere that has become their home of sorts. But never has the demon found _peace_ until he had Steve sheltered in his muscular arms.

“When you gave me the pendant… did that allow the Kyosw to find you?” The blond queries hesitantly, for if the pendant helped to conceal one’s aura (and thus the energy one emits) then surely removing the stone from one’s self would allow other demons to home in on that energy... Meaning that Schmidt would be able to track the dark class with far less effort once the blond became the one to wear the pendant. Steve had this hunch before, but finally hearing it confessed from Bucky’s own lips makes him realise just how important he is to the demon, and how desperate he is to protect him against all odd. Even back then before Steve even realised just what struggles they would endure.

“It made it… it made it easier for him.”

Oh, Steve felt his heart _throb_ with such a confession. That Bucky cared so much about keeping the younger man safe from his own kind that he would go far enough to put himself at risk, when all the blond has wanted to do is protect Bucky.

“Bucky-“ Before the blond’s distressed whine can begin to reprimand the demon, he’s interrupted by the fiend’s certainty, and most of all, his lack of regret for his actions.

“I needed to keep you safe. You’re special, Steve,” he says, those silver eyes turning to him with an expression of pure fondness.

“I still don’t really understand the purpose of all this.” The younger man’s steps freeze in place just as the demon’s does, coming face to face with each other as the blond breathes confused questions into the crystalline air between them “Why… why are you telling me all this _now?”_

“Because I know what that demon said,” the dark class reveals, his lips set in a thin line as he observes the creases caused by blue eyes widening as rosy lips part.

“Death.”

“Yes,” he replies, his wary tone accompanied by a curt nod.

“Why?” _Why did that demon say such a thing?_

“I think… I think it knows you killed the Kyosw.”

“The Kyosw… Wait, can the demon sense his energy that you took when I killed that death class?” Steve asks, a hint of worry embedded into his voice, causing this ever so faint tremble to his words. “Because if what you’ve said is true, then that means that you absorbed his energy, right?”

“I… I don’t know.” The dark class turns away slightly, as if yearning to hide this knowledge from the blond but knowing that he cannot do so.

“You don’t know?” Steve’s brows draw together, cautious about the subject, and yet so uncertain of it all. Especially why Bucky seems to not want to discuss it, “Surely you’ve become so much more powerful now.”

“You… you got hurt so quickly. I didn’t sense Schmidt’s energy go through our bond,” he reveals slowly, not daring to meet the stare of those ocean pools. “I don’t think it had the time to be absorbed.”

“So what happens to a demon’s energy when they die? Or even with people, if no demon collects their soul, then what happens?”

“I don’t know where souls go if they’re not claimed by a demon. Energy just fades back into the earth… if not taken.”

“What does that mean, then? About the death class?” Steve gently squeezes Bucky’s hand, trying to gain the demon’s reluctant attention. The blond just has to be _sure._ “He is dead, right?”

“Yes.” Bucky confirms with conviction. By some desperate miracle, the blond had been able to defeat death itself. There’s no resurrection or uncertainty about such a fact. Schmidt died, and there’s no demon that can come back from that. “He is dead.”

“Then what’s with this uncertainty? Why bring this up at all?” The cadet moves to stand properly in front of his demon, looking up at him with eyes laced with disquiet.

“Because I think that young demon sensed something we are blind to,” he grudgingly declares.

“Like what?” Blond locks shift as the younger man tilts his head just a fraction.

“I think that… we should ask the Empress about it. I don’t have the answers.” Just like that, the fiend turns away to continue their journey through the cave. However, he doesn’t get more than a few steps before blond strands are suddenly obscuring his view.

“Surely you must have questioned this all before?”

“No… I’ve just been so focused on you, that I haven’t thou-“ The blond waits, but the fiend doesn’t finish his sentence. Instead, those silver hues begin to shimmer with an expression the younger man has only witnessed when he was dying in his lover’s arms.

“Shh, shh, oh, Bucky.” Steve’s hand breaks from Bucky’s own as he brings up his soft palms to tenderly cup the demon’s chiselled jawline. “Come here,” he coos, his arms drifting to plant upon the demon’s shoulders, carefully drawing him closer without any resistance from the other man. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“But you-“

“You took my soul, right? When I died,” Steve tries to reason, one hand cradling the back of the demon’s head as he feels strong hands entwine around his torso.

“Yes, but-” It’s a fact that the blond can only be thankful for. His soul _belongs_ to the demon as far as he’s concerned, and had done so for a long time even before they confessed their love. When Steve died and Bucky completed eternally binding his soul to that demonic essence, removing it from the soldier’s body… Bucky had kept it selfishly, but Steve doesn’t mind that one bit. After all, he’s only ever wanted more time with such loving darkness.

“Then I’ve never left you. As long as you are bound to my soul in some way, I am always with you,” he assures the demon, nuzzling softly against the side of the demon’s throat, allowing the warmth of their bodies to innocently combine.

“I worry something will try to take you from me,” the demon admits into golden strands, his voice hoarse as if trying not to let the tears within his silver rings fall.

“I’m not going anywhere, Bucky. I want to stay with you, and nothing will change my mind about that.” _Nothing._ No words or actions could make Steve regret wanting to spend every moment of his existence here on out with his only lover. “And unless someone were to… harm you, then… we will always be together.” Though the cadet will do everything in his power to make sure that no one dares to come between them.

“Steve-“

“No matter what we may face, we’ll do it together,” he insists, pressing the softest of kisses just beneath the demon’s jawline, the shadow of stubble there harsh upon the softness of his lips. “You’ve told me that the Kyosw is dead, and I believe that. You’re free, Bucky.” The blond pulls back to give his demon the most sincere expression he can muster.

“But I-“

“Are bound to me. For eternity. But you are still free from your past.” Pale fingers wander to smooth the pads of his thumbs across the soft skin beneath those silver rings, caressing away a stray tear that had escaped without permission. Though when Steve speaks next, his voice still retains a fondness for the demon, though there’s a sternness weaved into it. “But, Bucky…”

“Yes?”

“You mustn’t lie to me. Don’t hold anything back when I ask,” Steve warns, for he cannot bear for there to be more lingering unknowns on the blond’s side. Not after everything they have been through. “If we are to live for an eternity together, I need to know that there will be no more secrets between us.”

“I-“ Before Bucky can even begin his reply of promise or denial, the blond’s heartfelt voice interrupts him.

“Bucky, I trust you more than anyone. And I understand that there are experiences in your past that you won’t want to talk about. I will not ask of them. Not ever.” It’s a promise of his own. The last thing he wants is to keep bringing forth ghosts that the darkness has been trying to overwrite for so long. “If you ever choose to tell me about your time with the Kyosw, I will listen, and I will still love you regardless of what you’ve endured. I cannot possibly understand all the pain you feel… But you don’t have to bear it alone.” Not for one moment. They aren’t just _bonded._ Their relationship is so much more than that- so much deeper than anyone can quite imagine. “I’m here for you. And if you want to forget about certain things of your past, then that’s okay too. I won’t pry. I will love you either way.” Steve’s words could not be more true, and as silver orbs watch him carefully in return, the blond firmly believes that Bucky knows it.

“I love you too,” he whispers, voice carrying on the gentle breeze that washes over the crystal-engulfed clearing.

“I know you do. I can feel it.” With a wholehearted smile, the younger man removes his hands from his lover, twisting his arms back until he’s got Bucky’s fingers laced with his own. The fiend only a little reluctantly allows his hold on the younger man’s waist to come undone, more than willing when he realises that Steve was coercing him to place his palms against the blond’s chest. Even the metallic plates of his arm can sense how _warm_ his little warrior is. Full of stubbornness and a caring nature, and a heart swollen with his love for a creature he never realised would become so important to him. At least not in this way. “Just… don’t try and cover things up just because you think they might hurt me. Like what happened with that young demon. Okay?”

“Yes, I understand,” the fiend acknowledges, and the blond can’t quite stop his toothy grin.

“Love you, Buck.”

“Love you, my little warrior.” With that, Bucky leans in closer to give his lover a kiss. Though he doesn’t quite reach those plush lips until the blond’s voice resounded like music in his ears.

“Promise me something.”

“Hm? Anything,” the demon hums, all too willing to accept whatever demands Steve might make.

“Let us speak with the Empress soon. I think… it is time for us to pay our debt to her,” the younger man proposes, unsure how Bucky might react to such a thing. Well, he has a pretty good guess, and the fiend doesn’t disappoint.

“But-“

Fortunately enough, the blond has a plan in place.

“I am used to this body. Ah, as used to it as one can get. There is still much for me to learn about this realm. But it’s going to take a long while for me to know all there is,” he explains, though even this the demon is aware of. After all, this is his lover’s birthplace. “But that’s something we can do peacefully once we’ve completed our final _mission.”_

“Are you sure?” The look in those silver eyes are wholly serious. But the fiend supposes that he’s been putting off the inevitable. The blond can’t necessarily manifest anymore, but he’s still strong in his own right.

“Yes,” Steve responds with determination. “So maybe it’s time you explain exactly what she wants from us, so that we might prepare ourselves.”

“Now?” Dark brows raise, as if he himself isn’t prepared yet.

“No. Not now. Let’s just enjoy this moment together,” Steve comforts, lightly rubbing his hands over the demon’s knuckles. “Forget about everything and just… enjoy each other’s company. How does that sound?” He bargains with something akin to a smirk toying with the corner of his mouth.

“Mm,” the demon hums, their bond gently pulsing with the tranquillity that settles through their chests. “Good,” he purrs, like a wild animal soothed into placidity.

“Let’s continue our walk, then?” The blond suggests, once again taking one of Bucky’s hands into his own as he began to carefully lead him forward across the crystal maze. Though the moment he’s just a few steps away, it’s as if their roles have switched, and it is the demon who gently pulls him closer to talk, causing the blond to immediately look up at him expectantly.

“I’ll take you to see her soon. I promise.”

Steve doesn’t doubt that for one second, and he smiles at the fiend as one might gaze fondly at their lover from across a room.

“Okay,” he breathes, and that’s all he says on the matter. He trusts the demon not to break his promises.

Unfortunately for the bonded pair, plans don’t always go as smoothly as one might think. There’s always something unexpected that disturbs the carved path, and that something will be upon them before they truly realise it.


	12. A Mortal Rift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter might raise some questions and theories... but all with time will be revealed in clarity! :D

Time is a strange concept. Complex math and thorough calculations behind it to make it something tangible to the human mind. However, past the rift between humanity and demonic beings, time works very differently to what scientists might imagine or try to comprehend. Which only means that Steve has no chance of really understanding it.  The cadet has no sense of time in this realm. What exactly the exchange is between the Netherworld time and that of Earth is entirely unknown to the blond. Since he died, Steve knows from what Bucky told him that three weeks had passed since he was effectively cremated along with dozens of other soldiers.

But now that he’s experiencing night and day here, the blond has lost track of himself, and whether every second here is a second is the human realm… Steve isn’t sure, and he honestly doubts it. Hell, for all he knows the Netherworld might have an entirely different way of measuring time, but it’s not something Steve has asked about, and honestly for the sake of his sanity, he probably shouldn’t question it. He can only put his trust in the other to come to an understanding of how much time has passed in the human realm since his demise. Steve was almost tempted to ask, and in fact one morning while they were lazing beside a gentle stream of quiet, the blond had opened his mouth to question his lover, but no words came out. Instead, his lips had pursed together as he leaned further into the demon’s exposed side, the touch of a wing against the skin of his arm as much of a comfort as the fiend’s smile was when he had looked down at the younger man.

Admittedly though, their time together in this realm hasn’t been all kisses and heartfelt smiles. Steve cannot forget his mother, and there have been nights and days when he has suddenly burst into tears and wept salty droplets into the crook of his lover’s neck. The smell of smoke and woodland emitting from the dark class with those strong arms wrapped tightly around him can only go so far to ease his pain. For despite knowing from the very beginning that he’s going off to war, he never paused for a moment to think of what it might feel like for _himself_ to miss his loved ones. To not be able to reach out and tell them how dear they are- how deeply cherished their mere existence is. It’s not quite what any soldier thinks about. Going to war and leaving their family behind, one does not think a time to long for them will come once the war is finished: soldiers either go back to their families with smiles on their lips and victory in their gazes… or they go back in a box. What little of them might be left.

Steve might not know how much time has passed since his mother found out he was dead, but he does know that it has been several rises of the sun since Bucky promised to take him to see the Empress- to explain exactly what it is that they need to do to pay for the debt they have. The blond hasn’t prompted him on the matter, and honestly, he is frightened of what they might have to face for them to finally be free to live their lives together. So, although he’s seemed patient with Bucky, he’s actually merely enjoying this peaceful solitude together, for it is something that won’t last forever. Steve is certain of that. For now, it’s nice becoming accustomed to the vast forest around their little nest within the quiet cave of a serene hillside. The more Steve sees of the surrounding woodland, the more time spent in such a place, the more it feels as if the pair actually have a home- somewhere to come back to once the debt is paid. And maybe they will move with time, but Steve can’t help but be fond of this safe haven. Though there is this lingering _fear_ of the pink lake where those creatures had tried to drown him. Steve hates to think of what would have happened if they had decided to rip him apart in the lake, never quite dying as the blond would be subjected to agony… would he truly be able to heal from that? It’s hard to believe that no matter what happens to this body of his, as long as Bucky lives, so does he.

“Something on your mind?”

Steve’s troubled gaze snaps up to the demon sitting beside him, dark lashes fluttering as if that might bring him back into this moment as he takes in the fiend’s raised brow. The blond immediately feels a warm flush beginning to taint his cheeks, earning himself one of those signature devilish smirks from his lover. Embarrassed at being caught up in his own thoughts, blue eyes cast down at the bronze-dusted flowers that tangle around their bear toes.

“No, not at all,” the younger man replies, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth.

The demon hums low in his throat, amused as always as he observes the dust of cherry-blossoms beneath the skin of the cadet’s cheeks, those soft strands beginning to dip into blue eyes catching the light of the sun high above them. Almost like spun gold, a stark contrast to the charcoal wings that glimmer like onyx crystals in the small break in the forest canopy. Unable to stop himself, the demon leans in slightly behind the smaller male, finding that exposed skin of the blond’s neck before pressing a firm kiss to the smooth skin there.

A surprised gasp left plump lips, ocean orbs falling shut as sheer bliss washed over him. A sensation that was quickly pushed to the side as light giggles erupted from the blond’s throat, the tickle of Bucky’s lips ghosting his neck, accompanied by the gentle nips of teeth every so often.

“Bucky!” Steve squeals, shoulders hunching up as he leans away from the fiend in the hopes of escape. A completely, utter, pointless escape… but a part of him doesn’t mind that the demon chases after him.

“Mm, my little warrior,” the demon hums playfully, large hands digging into the flowers either side of the blond’s form, silver eyes alight in excitement as he continues to leave kisses at his lover’s nape. “You want something?”

“For you to- _ah_ \- stop! It tickles!” The younger man exclaims between bursts of giggles as he finds himself leaning further away still, only to have the demon’s broad chest pressing roughly against his side almost instantly. Though a joyful bout of laughter is quickly cut short as a moan echoes up from the blond’s chest, a sudden spark of pleasure igniting in the pit of his stomach catching him off-guard as the demon began to suck sweetly on the pale skin of his throat without so much as a warning.

“Do you really want me to stop?” The fiend whispers darkly, his breath hot against Steve’s skin, warming the very tips of his ears as certain teasing lips drifted up to trace along the blond’s jawline. A shudder ran right through his very being as Steve felt the demon gently nip and tug his earlobe in exploration. Or perhaps the creature was doing it merely to rile the young man up- to earn some sort of reaction that darkness itself craves… and Steve can only willing give in to him.

“No… don’t stop…” he murmurs breathlessly, the words catching in his throat as he begs the fiend to do whatever he desires. To make the cadet _his_ all over again, because he knows that he belongs to Bucky as much as the demon belongs to him. “Please don’t stop.” As soon as those words were released into the air settled between them, Steve finds himself suddenly being pressed forcefully, yet ever so carefully into the silky flowers beneath them. But all the younger man can perceive is the large shadow cast by Bucky’s form that bathes him so lovingly.

Although unable to see the demon, the younger man arches his neck instinctively, exposing more of that porcelain skin as he felt a weight against his back; melding with the slight curve of his spine as Steve sighs blissfully into the tousle of plants beneath him. The flowers smell ever so sweet, contrasting with the almost wood-smoke like scent the demon seems to emit. Slender fingers dig into the tangle of soft stems, the flowers like a pillow for the edge of his temple as he relaxes in the sensation of kisses being firmly planted upon his throat and the smooth bump of his nape.

“What do you want?” The demon purrs innocently into Steve’s ear, and yet it feels like a taunt to the younger man.

“Anything,” the blond says, his voice awfully quiet even in the silence of the clearing.

“Anything?” Bucky repeats questioningly, nibbling at the sensitive skin right beside the very corner of the younger male’s jawbone.

“Mm, anythin’,” Steve drawls, accent weighting his words as long lashes flicker shut in bliss, only opening every so often as dark hairs tickle against his nape. “Just want you.” Oh, that’s all that he wants. All he _needs_ in this moment where they might lose themselves entirely to pleasure.

“Now that, I can give you.” Bucky grins mischievously against Steve’s throat, before purposely rolling his hips against the curve of his lover’s ass, feeling the younger man tense before relaxing against the sea of flowers beneath them. All at once, they could both feel that _fire_ beginning to make its way through their bodies like a never-ending stream.

“What do you think you’re- _mhm,_ doing?” Steve huffs between a low moan as he felt the demon grind himself against him once more, as if to tease the younger male with the prospect of going further. Which is, in all honestly, something Steve isn’t entirely sure of. Of course, the blond adores making love with Bucky, but he also isn’t too fond of the idea of fucking like insatiable animals in the middle of an open forest. No matter how pretty the view is (or handsome as he attempts a glance back at a certain fiend) or how it feels _so good_ to have Bucky deep inside him… There’s just this lingering notion at the back of Steve’s mind that they aren’t alone, despite how silly such a thought would sound out loud. When they had settled in the clearing hours ago, the demon had informed the younger of the two that they were the only creatures for miles around. If anything changes, he’s certain that the fiend would say so, especially if they became tangled together, for he’s pretty sure that the demon himself wouldn’t want any unwelcomed gazes upon their desperate session of love-making. Just the idea of it makes the blond squirm with unease, for he would much rather keep private matters _private._ Ah, though they are alone right now as far as they are concerned, and honestly Steve is probably a little too eager to have Bucky close to him in such a way once again, for it’s been awhile for them. Perhaps that’s a bit of an understatement, for the pair haven’t made love since their first time in this realm.

“Giving myself to you,” the demon purrs, his words like a siren’s song in the cadet’s ear, the tips of which have turned a deep red with his arousal. It’s as if Bucky is pulling him in, and the younger man would gladly drown in this euphoria, as long as he becomes a shipwreck with the demon himself.

“You’re actually serious right now?” Steve giggles with amusement, pretending as if their actions were rather scandalous. Well, the blond supposes that they are, no longer hidden away within the darkness of cave walls. “You want to fuck me right here in this clearing, right now this very second?” He teases, voice temptingly low as he tilts his hips to meld against the demon’s own.

“No,” Bucky whispers, earning him a raised brow in response at the young man watches him from the corner of his eye.

“No?” He mimics, for he doesn’t believe the fiend for one second, if the blatant bulge pressing into the back of his clothed thigh is any indication of the demon’s intentions. The fiend has never been one to suppress his desires, though naturally with his lover’s consent. If there had ever been a time Steve had truly refused Bucky’s touch, the demon wouldn’t have laid his hands on the cadet. And if a time comes when the blond decides against joining their bodies so blissfully, the dark class would comply without complaint.

“I want to _make love_ to you right here, right now, my little warrior,” he corrects with a voice like silk that seems to form these little wisps of pleasure under the cadet’s skin. “Wanna taste you so bad. Feel your pleasure combined with my own,” the demon continues, nipping once at the shell of Steve’s ear before running his lips along the exposed stretch of his lover’s throat.

“I want that too, but-“ the soldier’s breathy, hesitant words don’t get a chance to voice themselves until their fears are being guaranteed away.

“We’re alone, I assure you.” Bucky leaves a kiss at the younger man’s nape, the taste of the other almost _sweet_ like the fragrance of the flowers bending under their bodies. “Besides…I want to keep you all to myself,” he says, as if such a thing was obvious. A selfish desire that the two wholeheartedly share.

“Oh, I’m charmed,” the blond returns sarcastically, looking to the vine that curls around one of his fingers to hide his white-tooth grin from the fiend.

“Hm?” The demon’s hum is high-pitched, as if a tad confused by Steve’s statement;

“Never- ah- mind,” Steve gasps as the demon rolled his hips against him, causing his smaller form to shift slightly with the irresistible movement.

“You’re so precious to me,” he murmurs serenely, as if his hardening length wasn’t obvious against the curve of Steve’s ass, heated despite the layers of fabric that stop their skin from sliding together in pleasure.

“And yet you’re grinding me into the dirt,” the young man responds plainly, if a little amused by it all.

“Maybe I just want to be the one to _ruin_ you,” the dark class growls playfully, instantly receiving the attention of wide, blue eyes.

“Bucky!”

“What is it?” The fiend plays ignorance.

“Where on earth did you learn to talk like that?” Steve huffs out a disbelieving laugh, golden locks shaking with the action.

“You don’t like it?” He says, a touch more serious, for he only yearns to please the younger man.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” the younger male groans, unable to reject the demon’s softly accusing words. He _does_ like it, but he’s not exactly going to admit that out loud. Bucky certainly would never let him live it down if he did so.

“Only in a good way from now on, I hope,” the fiend muses, just a hint of sadness hanging into his tone, unable to be forced away.

“But of cou-“ Steve’s words suddenly trail off as he felt the tiny, soft hairs at the back of his neck rise in a shudder. The pleasure his body had felt disappears in an instant, leaving this heavy sense of foreboding deep within his lungs, swelling around his every organ until it felt like fear itself was embedded into his every cell. A sense of something terrible that was getting closer and closer and it makes the blond _cold_ as goose bumps rise upon his pale skin.

“Steve?” The demon calls out, confused as he perceives the abrupt change in his lover- the unresponsiveness of his mind and his body that has become like a statue beneath him. “Steve?” Bucky tries again to gain the blond’s attention, though instead of a simple, blissful _yes,_ the dark class is suddenly being pushed back as the younger man’s elbows dig into the earth, before planting his palms against the flowers to sit up.

“Do you feel that?” Steve murmurs, blue orbs darting about like a deer that has just been spooked, cautious of a predator that might be watching it just beyond the shadows of the trees.

“I certainly feel something,” the fiend jests, wrapping a muscular arm around the blond’s torso to bring him against the firmness of his chest.

“Bucky! I’m serious,” the cadet insists, craning his neck to look properly at the other, so that Bucky might see the certainty embedded into his frightened gaze. The younger man watches as the demon’s brows draw together, silence enveloping the clearing as Bucky takes a moment for his unseen shadows to analyse the clearing and beyond. Every nook and cranny of each tree trunk and winding roots, the underside of each petal and vine that surrounds them, and through the soil of the woodland that embraces them, and further still as shadows seep through a stream… But the only thing Bucky senses is nature itself, and none of its potential inhabitants.

“I still don’t sense anything, Steve. It’s only us here, there’s nothing around for miles,” Bucky admits, trying to get the blond’s paranoia to see reason. Though as the younger man fought against his hold, the demon had to reluctantly let him go as the blond stumbled to a stand, ocean orbs persistently examining the edges of the clearing, as if that might reveal something of significance to them both. But just as Bucky had predicted, there’s nothing sinister observing the two lovers.

“I swear I sense something!” He insists, frowning at the fiend before resuming his search of their surroundings.

“Steve,” Bucky calls out, but the blond has other ideas that don’t involve listening to the fiend denying that there’s something out there, lurking within the woodland. Before the demon even manages to get up himself, the smaller man is already walking away, and _quickly_ too, heading into the dimness of the forest. “Steve! Wait, there’s nothing out here,” he exclaims, hurrying his steps to try and catch up with his lover whose form has already merged with the forest as if becoming a part of it.

“It’s close! I know it,” the cadet stubbornly insists, marching between the curling tree roots that threaten to trip him up, and yet still he wanders deeper, more nimble than the fiend with heavy wings that drape behind his every step. “It’s just this way.”

“Steve, wait up!” The demon commands, quickening into a jog to not lose sight of golden locks that were practically disappearing from sight. Though it’s barely a moment until the fiend catches up with him, the cadet as still as a statue as he stares between the large space between two overbearing trees. “See, there’s nothing here,” Bucky points out as he came to stand with the younger male, frustrated that the blond wasn’t listening to him. Or rather, Steve was listening to him, he was just choosing to disregard the demon’s adept senses and familiarity of the realm.

“I know there’s something here… ah, maybe not right now, but there will be…” the blond swears, taking a step away from the dark class as if nothing Bucky could say could change his mind about it.

“What makes you so sure of that?” Bucky questions, muscular arms folding against his broad chest as charcoal wings fluttered at his side before resting against his back.

“I-I don’t know,” the younger man admits, more than a little reluctant to do so. But the demon is right- there’s surely nothing but fear and suspicion guiding Steve’s thoughts. The dark class knows the realm far, far better than he does, and Bucky’s power is far greater than his own, lacking one.

“Come, let’s go back, hm?” He offers softly with a sigh, throwing away the distance between them to plant a hand at the base of Steve’s spine, causing blue eyes to look up at him in a way that has Bucky feeling _weak._ Those orbs are full of a sadness and distress, and Bucky wants nothing more than to replace such emotions with happiness and bliss.

“I felt something,” Steve mutters, more to himself than his worried lover at his side, though his voice sounds as if he’s given up some grave battle.

“Steve,” the demon sighs, pressing closer still to allow his lips to meet with soft strands as he places a kiss to the crown of the younger male’s head. “Let’s go,” he urges lightly.

“Yeah, okay,” the cadet agrees, tearing his eyes away from the trees and to the demon, not quite meeting the stare of the silver daggers that seem to bore right into his very core.

Allowing the demon’s arm to slip around his waist, the two began their journey back to the flower-embedded clearing, the scent of which seems to have rubbed off on their clothes, leaving a saccharine trail in their wake. However, the bonded pair take no more than two steps before Steve felt his chest tighten again as pale fingertips began to tingle as if electricity itself was coursing through his veins. Halting in place, the blond’s head whips back around, instantly arousing confusion in his counterpart…. Until Bucky felt it too. An energy like nothing the demon realm has ever experienced before, and yet the dark class knows exactly what it is.

A growl radiating from the fiend’s throat, Bucky wraps his arms tightly around the smaller male’s waist, swiftly jolting him back as the demon forces them to take shelter behind a sturdy tree. Unsure what exactly has the fiend acting so strangely, the blond’s hands go to the forearms secure against his stomach, attempting to pry himself loose with a gasp of the demon’s name. But Bucky’s embrace is unyielding, and Steve can do nothing but peer around the tree bark in search of what has the fiend seemingly spooked. Or rather, why Bucky’s protective nature seems to have _snapped._

“Bucky, what is it?” Steve asks with a frown contorting his features, before blue eyes widen when there’s suddenly a firm palm over his mouth, silencing him as the caress of familiar lips whisper right into his ear.

“Shh, stay quiet.”

Although to anyone else it might be seen as wise to resist the demon’s hold, to jolt away from the touch of his palm, Steve does no such thing, for he’s overwhelmed with the sensation of _safety_ in Bucky’s arms. Besides, if the dark class believes the only way to get through whatever is happening is to stay silent, then Steve would comply… with only a little bit of a complaint as he sighs against the demon’s palm.

After a mere second, an understanding having settled between them that neither will speak, the dark class slowly removes his hand from over’s Steve’s mouth to rest those calloused fingers against the younger man’s abdomen. Ocean and moon-like orbs stare around the tree they currently hide in the shadows of, their light breaths only apparent to each other as they lie in wait. Though the bonded pair don’t have to stand idly by for long until what Steve had first sensed becomes all too apparent.

It’s barely noticeable at first, like a speck of dust catching the light of the sun in the air. A fragment caught in the dead centre of the space between the trees like the middle of a spider’s web. And yet its presence is so much more terrifying than that of a mere spider. The little fleck begins to expand, slowly at first, its white hue becoming no bigger than a tennis ball, easily being able to fit in one’s hand. But it doesn’t stay so small for long. In fact, all it takes it for one brutal second, and the bonded pair have to avert their gazes as a silvery light pours through the trees like a broken dam.

In an instant, the woodland is flooded in light, though the intensity only lasts a mere second before its sudden brightness dims ever so subtly, as if becoming kind to the eyes of the witnesses. But Steve doesn’t have to look upon the source of the heavenly light to know exactly what it is. He’s seen it many times before, though in this body of his, his senses perceive it in an entirely new, terrifying way. A shiver of energy washes down his spine, tingling his every nerve cell as he peeks around the corner of the hardened tree bark. Soft lips part ever so slightly as the blond takes in the hypnotising view, dark feathers gently tracing along his upper arm as the demon peers over his head to watch the thin, seemingly shard-filled sphere of light.

_A gateway._

But what the bonded pair is seeing, isn’t anything natural. For the size of the portal is _immense._ Steve has only ever witnessed one gateway of this size. Or rather, machinery capable of producing such a gigantic rift, and that was the beneath the academy, deep underground. But this portal is very much thriving, it’s _open_ and Steve can only guess what might come through the shimmering, shifting light.

“Does that-“

“Lead into the human realm? Yes, it does,” Bucky interrupts softly, ever so cautious as he felt Steve begin to resist his touch like a chained animal needing release. “You cannot go through it,” the demon says before the blond can even dare to ask it, for he knows that’s what the younger man wants. To go back to his mother… at least to see her one last time and achieve confirmation himself that his teammates are alive.

“I can’t? Or shouldn’t?” The blond huffs, though deep within himself, he knows he can’t go back to the life he once had. His home is _here_ now, attempting to go back to the human realm surely can’t end in anything good. Only heartbreak. Besides, Steve isn’t entirely human himself anymore. At least, it feels that way. This body wasn’t made from the love of two people, but of one single, powerful being in a realm of demons.

“I don’t know if your body will be able to handle going through it,” Bucky replies calmly, voice still low as if worried about being overheard.

“Why is it… Why is it here?” Steve asks on a sigh, his heart fearing the answer.

“I don’t-“ the demon’s words instinctively cease as he spots two expanding, dark patches at the base of the gateway. Like fragments of soot clumped together, until they begin to take a form more true to a living being. Something _humanoid._

“Is that-“

“You don’t need to see this, let’s go,” the fiend urges, his hold around the cadet’s waist tightening as he attempted to lure the younger man away. Though nails quickly dig into bark stubbornly, toes sinking into the earth to keep the pair in place. Before Bucky can say anything else, it is too late for him to try and prevent his lover from witnessing the unimaginable. Something that might just haunt the cadet for the rest of all eternity.

Steve isn’t exactly sure what he’s seeing at first- what sort of creature the shadows belong to as they make their way through the gateway into the Netherworld. But once he realises that the shapes he sees is that of something human-like, he can’t help but become more curious as to what’s happening right before their eyes. Even more so when he sees his own academy’s uniform adorning the two soldier’s forms, like a mist of shadows sticking to every curve and sharp angles of their bodies.

Despite Bucky’s desperate warning, what unfolds in front of them isn’t something that they can disregard the existence off. And besides… it finally answers a question people have been wondering for centuries…

What happens to a human when they go into the rift and enter the demon realm.

If anyone knew… it would be deemed a terribly fate indeed- one no one would wish even the most hardened and sadistic of criminals to endure.


	13. A Deadly Fate Far from Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays everyone! <3 <3 <3 Thank you for all your support, you guys are amazing!
> 
> I hope you all have a good holiday and look forward to the new year!
> 
> I think this chapter will answer some questions raised in the previous one... but may or may not bring about more queries ahaha

Everything happens too quickly, and even with the tight hold around his waist stopping him from moving forth, his mind wouldn’t let him anyway. Something is _wrong._ Very wrong, and Steve’s heart cannot help but ache, knowing that he can do nothing as the two soldiers stumble through the gateway. Ever the closer to stepping into the realm of demons.

Their physiques become more clear, their faces more defined as Steve spots the engraved guns pressed firmly into the palms as if fear itself courses through their veins as green and brown eyes stare through the void, only a step away until their encased feet would touch demonic soil… In time, the blond will only be grateful that he doesn’t know the two soldiers he sees. Would be _relieved_ by their not being any of his previous teammates. Because if the soldiers were Sam, Tony or…ah, any one of them, then what the bonded pair witness would be like pure torture to the blond.

Everything seems okay at first. Granted, the soldiers act disorientated with the uncertain steps of their boots as they finally reach the mossy floor of the warm forest. And their eyes… they appear almost glazed over, their pupils constricted as if they had been staring into a bright light for a long while, the whites of their orbs glistening with unfallen tears. There’s a distinct frown set between their brows, wrinkling the skin in what the cadet could only fearfully think of as an expression of agony. It was difficult to tell, for their mouths were covered in a black, almost metallic looking material, akin to a gas mask with the few lines of minuscule holes either side along where their jaws would be beneath the cover. It’s only then that Steve perceives that the rest of their face is covered in a thin sheet of clear material that digs into their foreheads.

But despite the obvious measures the soldiers have seemed to have taken in securing their safety in this demonic realm… it isn’t enough. Nothing could ever be enough, for humans are not _meant_ to venture into such a dark world. And perhaps if they realised the impossibility of it all, maybe they wouldn’t keep persisting in these fruitless efforts. It’s a waste of money, technology, and _lives._

Steve’s shallow breaths practically catch in his throat, blue eyes widening in alarm as the sleek guns fall from weakened fingers, landing on the ever so slightly clammy soil with a consecutive, monotone _thud thud._ Before the younger man even has a chance to think that perhaps the two soldiers are merely amazed by the world around them… it obvious that they have no idea where they are as the blond perceives the first _cry_ that yanks at his heart like a dog tugging harshly on a leash. It’s not a deafening sound, but it might as well be, for it pierces right through the cadet’s eardrums as the men tumble to the earth. They clutch at nothing, incoherent to the bliss of the realm they have stumbled upon… and will never escape as their bodies succumb to some unseen torture. As if being in the very presence of the Netherworld was tearing apart their very souls.

Though, as if this demonic place has some lingering sense of mercy, it is only seconds until the soldiers stop moving altogether. Their last breaths taken as unseen, crimson fluid paints the inside of their dark masks. Steve is so torn by what he sees, that he doesn’t perceive the very same red dripping from their ears to matt the dark locks of their hair together. Nor with their faces to the ground, does the blond see the tear ducts that leak more of their crimson, clotting blood. Beneath the surface of their paled skin, their organs have diminished into nothing more than darkened mush, like snow that has been stepped in over and over. Ruined beyond anything even remotely salvageable. Their very life sources waning in this demonic world, there is nothing anyone would be able to do to bring them back into the human realm to aid their grieving families. Even with all the technology available, not even the most hardened of soldiers can make it back through the gateway to the land they are supposed to remain in. Attempts to go through the gateway and come back with even a slice of information about the realm of humanity’s supposed enemies… they will never work. Not tomorrow, not after a decade or a century… not even when a billion years of efforts pass. It is just not meant to be, and the sooner humanity realises that, then less lives will be lost for nothing.

“Are they…” Steve doesn’t finish off his breathy sentence, for he already knows the answer. But still, as if to ensure the reality of the situation the blond has found himself it, the demon confirms his suspicions with a gentle word spoken against his ear.

“Yes.”

The gateway still glimmers and gleams with vibrant life, almost as if mocking the bodies of the deceased soldiers, and the cadet who still looks on with a disheartened expression. Steve should have known that nothing good happens when humans try to attempt to broaden their knowledge of demons and the realm which is purely their own. This is not a place where human and demon can coexist. Humans are not _meant_ for this realm, and the rift between the two worlds ensures that such a thing remains in place. For why give humans a chance to destroy an entirely new, balanced realm? One which has beauty and is filled with incredible creatures and flora. If humans were permitted in this place… if humans thrived here just as demons have, then this world would not survive it. Maybe it seems unfair in that respect; that although demons can invade the realm of humans, the same cannot be done to the Netherworld. Perhaps it is because although fiends can slip through the rift into humanity’s presence, despite how they are called _monsters,_ as a species they are not actually as vicious and chaotic as humanity itself…

But the artificial gateway in front of the bonded pair is not just a reminder of humanity’s pointless search for knowledge – at least futile doing so in this way – it is also a heavy taunt to the younger man who cannot ever go back to the life he once had. Cannot walk through the tantalising lights and resume his existence in his own birth realm. But perhaps one day, he will get a chance to tie up the loose ends he feels as if he left behind on the battlefield. Hopefully such a time will come soon, before it’s too late. Though Steve supposes that he’s done what he set out to do. Sacrificed his life to save humanity. He did it far better than anyone else could have done, and yet still, there’s a part of him that feels empty despite his accomplishments. Perhaps it’s because after all these years of being bonded with Bucky, he’s finally realised that there’s far more to life than he could have ever grasped when he was younger. And besides, can anyone blame the blond for missing the woman that has been there for him through thick and thin? Someone who has always believed in him, even when he was sick. He may have left her a letter explaining everything he didn’t have the courage to do in person, and although his final words should allow him some peace, he can’t help but wonder…. Can’t help but worry that maybe he’s disappointed her. And although he knows that Sam will take very good care of her, he does fear that it won’t be enough to stop his loved one from falling into depression, or worse. If Sarah blames herself for her only son’s death… Ah, Steve just wants to reassure her, and hold her close one last time.

Wishful thinking perhaps. But if one doesn’t have hope in their life,, then what can truly be so great about living? Besides, neither human nor demon have an inkling as to what the universe has instore for them. Something that will threaten to tear everything they know apart… but might just bring them closer if they can bear to live through it all…

“Steve, let’s go, you don’t need to see this,” Bucky pleads, tugging at the younger man ever so softly as one might pull at a fragile doll.

“But what about the gateway?” The blond questions, casting a dejected look right at his lover. The demon might not care about the deceased soldiers, but he still very much cares about what the younger man feels swirling within his chest. For the despairing sensation flows right through their bond, sweeping through the demon’s cells, and digging into the fiend’s hardened core.

“It’s unstable,” the fiend explains carefully, as one might deal with a frightened animal. “It will close soon.”

“What if a demon gets through?” Steve questions, panic embedded into his voice like cut glass on one’s skin. The very thought of some creature getting through before the gateway closes is not something he wants his comrades on the other side to endure or deal with.

“My kind will be hesitant to come near while we are still around,” Bucky attempts to assure the younger male whose blue eyes look back at him as if someone had just taken a puppy right from his arms. “At least those with any intelligence or experience,” the fiend murmurs, casting his gaze to the side as if to avoid those glistening orbs.

Steve could have easily made some sort of joke in reply about Bucky being so powerful, but he couldn’t find it within his heart to do so. How could he? Not when he knows the scene right over his shoulder.

“What about their souls?” The blond asks, placing his palm right in the centre of his lover’s chest as he stepped in close, gazing up at the fiend without a shred of fear.

“They’ll go soon enough.” Seep back into the earth as if they were never there, unable to be brought back once gone. Where exactly unclaimed souls go… not even the most powerful being of either realm knows it.

“You don’t want them?” Steve didn’t expect the demon to say yes, but he still found himself questioning regardless. Besides, the deceased soldiers are easy targets as far as soul collecting goes- an effortless source of energy, and therefore _power._

“No.” Yet still, despite the situation, the fiend isn’t the least bit tempted by it. “I have no reason to wish to be stronger, Steve.” They have no enemies. Ah, well that’s not quite true. Rather, it’s more accurate to say that they no longer have any enemies that could bring them grave harm. “And besides, I don’t _want_ their souls.”

“Just mine?” Nothing could stop the very corner of Steve’s plush lips from tweaking into a tiny, self-satisfied smile. Bucky desiring his soul isn’t something the cadet fears. It may have brought them together, but it certainly isn’t the reason why they became lovers.

“You know that I’ve only ever wanted you… and not just because your soul is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Bucky hums, nudging himself instinctively closer to the younger male’s soothing warmth.

The blond’s lips morph into a soft grin of affection, before those eyes full of hope and love seemed to dull as blue rings fall down to stare at the miniscule space between them, as if that might hide his mournful expression from the fiend. But Bucky’s didn’t need to see it, for his mouth had the sour taste of sorrow he couldn’t ignore.

“What will happen to their bodies?” Steve asks quietly, his voice barely breaking through the rustle of trees as a heavy breeze pushes over the forest canopy.

“They’ll decay in time,” the demon tells him, as if it might make Steve feel better about the situation knowing that fiends are unlikely to come by and rip them apart to feast on their flesh and bones. Instead, the bodies would soon morph into tiny hills of grass and vines as the earth itself would welcome them into its dark embrace, “Become one with the forest.”

“Can’t we bury them?”

“You want to bury men you’ve never met?” Bucky frowns in confusion, but all his obnoxious words gain him is a frustrated scowl from his lover.

“I might not know them personally, but they wear the uniform of my academy,” Steve attempts to explain, though far from expecting Bucky to understand the etiquette the military has where their dead comrades are concerned. “They deserve our respect… and some sort of acknowledgement… And don’t their families deserve that too? Considering that they can neither bury nor burn them when their bodies are in a realm no human can survive in,” Steve urges, trying to get Bucky to see the situation from a different perspective. Though in reality, all the blond needs to do is stare up at the fiend with big, blue eyes and the demon will undeniably give in.

“Fine,” Bucky grumbles, nodding his head a little in confirmation.

“Really?” The blond knows that Bucky wouldn’t say something without meaning it, but that still didn’t stop the disbelieving word from breaking past plump lips.

“Yes, my little warrior,” he sighs, offering the younger male an understanding smile. At least, an understanding that this is something that Steve needs to do.

“Thank you,” Steve replies quietly, the palm on his lover’s chest trailing up to cup the back of Bucky’s neck, just as his other hand slipped to rest on one broad shoulder. The blond was a fraction of a second away from pulling the demon in for a chaste kiss, but the fiend’s query stopped him in his tracks.

“How do you plan on digging their graves?”

“Eh?” The questioning sound leaves his throat before he can hold it back. The demon had a very good point: they aren’t exactly in the human realm where they could pop into a hardware store for a shovel. Though the blond supposes the point is that if they were in the human realm, there would be no need for the bonded pair to bury the deceased themselves. They could burn the bodies, but the thought of having the smoky scent of flesh sizzling up his nostrils isn’t a pleasant one. Besides, setting a fire would be like setting a beacon in the otherwise placid forest. ”Ah, I… hadn’t considered that,” the blond admits, if a little awkwardly.

Bucky sighs in response, defeated. But quite honestly, he would do anything for Steve.

“Let me do it.”

“What? How?” The blond enquires, more than a little uncertain of what the fiend must have in mind. “You’re not exactly an earth class.” Far from it, in fact.

“No, but did you forget that this is not the only form I can take on?” The fiend counters, a hint of amusement laced into his words as he raised a dark brow at the warrior with golden locks.

“I… I didn’t forget…” Pale cheeks tint just the slightest bit red as if someone had dusted a layer of pink frosting beneath the skin. Steve remembers well the time that Bucky had shifted into a feline, with fur as dark as the night and soft as the demon’s own wavy locks atop his head. However, he doesn’t believe such a form would be able to help them dig graves for two rather broad and tall soldiers.

“We’ll wait for the gateway to close, then we’ll bury their bodies, okay?” Bucky assures the younger male, as if the pair were making a proposal for a date rather than a plan to bury the dead.

“Okay,” Steve agrees with a small nod of confirmation, eyes cast down for a brief moment until he looked over his shoulder at the shimmering gateway. Just on the other side… was so close to home. Ah, no, that’s not quite right. His _old_ home. The Netherworld is where the cadet belongs now. No matter what his heart may long for, his soul yearns for his demon far greater than anything Steve has ever felt before simmering deep within his chest.

The bonded pair patiently stand by the sturdy tree, watching the gateway show signs of faltering as the lights flicker and dim moment by moment. Though truthfully there’s only one reason the blond is willing to wait for the gateway to close, and it is because he has not quite yet grasped the strength to go up to the deceased soldiers. For it’s as if actually approaching the two men might somehow make the reality of the situation that much more cemented into the younger male’s mind. Dealing with death… it’s isn’t something the cadet is entirely accustomed to. He’s seen it happen, too many times to truly count, but he’s never had to deal with what comes after the heart stops beating. Taking a body and giving it a place to rest until its every atom re-joins the earth. It only makes the blond wonder who it was that carried his body back to base when he died… was it Bucky? Or Sam? Tony? Some random soldiers? Steve genuinely doesn’t know the answer, and he doesn’t know why he’s never questioned it. Perhaps it is because having a new body makes it that much harder to comprehend that he did lose the body that evolved with him throughout his entire life. And honestly, a part of his mind feels disconnected from the body that is now only ash. As if that was a different person entirely. It’s an eerie thought, but the blond just can’t shake the feeling that something is very, very different within himself. As if there’s a sphere of darkness and light that are fighting within his depths, trying to take control of the other.

It’s a few minutes until that shimmering light that has only ever brought destruction and death into the human realm, finally begins to fluctuate. The bridge between the two very different worlds weakening immensely, unable to hold itself together. The silver shards dim further, seemingly flickering like a screen signal being lost. Watching the gateway… it’s like watching a life being lost all over again, as if the rift was some living creature with a pulse that was fading.

Suddenly, all at once the glistening portal collapses in on itself like a crumbling skyscraper being pulled into a sinkhole in its very centre. And just like that, all trace of it disappears into nothing. Like dust being swept out the door, there’s no trace that it was ever there… except from the soldiers laying against the forest floor whose lives have been ripped from them. It seems surreal, and it’s only then that it dawns on the younger male that he is truly far from the tight embrace of his mother. A notion that causes goose bumps to rise upon the soft skin of his arms as if ice was being pressed against the pale flesh. But the cold doesn’t last for long, as a heated body presses against the blond more purposefully while strong hands easily clasp around his upper arms. With a tender kiss nestled against golden locks, the demon gently rubs his palms along Steve’s skin in what Bucky hopes is done in a comforting manner. More than anything, the fiend hates to see his beloved upset, even if it’s just a tiny swirl of regret and sorrow curling through their bond.

But as soon as the touch is there, the demon’s form removes itself carefully from the cadet’s back, though Steve knows that Bucky goes no further than a few steps from him. The blond watches over the silence between the two trees, as if that mere action might will the gateway to return to them. Maybe if that happened, Bucky could… Ah, no, that would be a terrible idea. The soldiers on the other side would probably only assume that Bucky murdered the men himself. Besides, who’s to say that when – and if - the gateway reopens… that it will even be near the same time as when the soldiers travelled through.

The crackle of a twig being broken behind him tears the cadet from his thoughts. Snapping his attention to the woodland over his shoulder, the younger male isn’t the tiniest bit alarmed when his eyes lay upon a mist of shadows that wrap around his bonded fiend like a dissipating cloak, completely shrouding the area where his demon once visibly stood. Well, the blond is more than certain that his lover is right there, just an arm’s reach away, but merely hidden within the darkness. There’s this odd, bone-crunching sound coming from the mist that would make Steve feel uneasy if he didn’t know that it was just the demon taking on an altered form. The blond isn’t entirely sure what kind of creature the fiend is clicking his joints into, but as soon as Steve glimpses soft, white fur… it’s breath-taking.

If the golden-haired boy wasn’t so sure that it was Bucky his blue orbs were transfixed by, he would have been _terrified_ of the big wolf that the fading shadows revealed- with silver hues that seemed to stare right through him, touching his very core. It’s just like looking into the eyes of the grim reaper himself, for Bucky has taken many, many lives. Human and demon alike. But the demon is not a creature of death. Darkness, yes, always. But there is something else held within those moon-lit rings that send a bolt of sheer thrill down the nodules of the cadet’s spine. Hell, if Steve weren’t so frozen in awe, he would have surely fell to his knees right in front of the transformed demon. But even standing at his full, meagre height, he felt tiny compared to the wolf that very slowly placed a padded paw closer to the younger male.

“Wow…” Is all Steve can manage to mutter, too lost in the amazement that he feels for this form that his lover has chosen to take. The wolf lets out a small, rumbling sound akin to a friendly growl as he came closer still, right until his wet nose could nuzzle against the hand resting at the blond’s side. With a doting smile, the younger male rubs his palm against the fur of the wolf’s cheek, feeling his muzzle sliding against the side of his thigh as the demon gradually passes him. That thick, white pelt presses against him lightly, but the sheer weight of the wolf has the blond shuffling on his feet to keep himself balanced from the tender force.

Steve allows his hand to drift over one twitching ear, along the wolf’s neck and between those rigid shoulder blades until he could run his fingers along his lover’s spine. He was _almost_ tempted to lightly take hold of the demon’s tail when he laid eyes on the sheer fluffiness of the appendage, but merely held himself back as said tail gently whacked against the smaller male’s stomach. Ocean orbs follow the fiend as he pads into the small clearing where the soldiers lay silent even now, as if they never once contained life. Unsure exactly what Bucky is doing, the blond frowns as he watches that wolf-like head lower to the ground, nose sniffing against the soil until little traces of it stained his whiskers. Then surprisingly, the wolf’s back paws seem to lodge themselves into the earth, bracing himself before dark claws began to scratch at the earth.

Caught off-guard, a yelp escapes the blond’s lips as a spray of fine earth flings into the air towards him as the demon focused in seemingly digging. Taking shelter behind the tree, blue eyes peek around its smooth bark in fascination. Steve only has to watch the fiend at work for a few minutes until the wolf pauses, letting out a small growl before working on a second, oval hole. Ah, the blond supposes that they are as good a grave as the pair can possibly give them. At least it’s something, and that’s all that matters to Steve.

Once the fiend finished working his dark claws through the earth, that wolf-like snout let out a grumbled bark as if to signal to the younger male that he’s ready. The blond slides away from the shelter of the tree, stare drifting down momentarily before willing himself to look up and face the soldiers. Though Steve gets no more than a couple paces from the men before he halts in place, caught-off-guard when he sees the darkened crimson that clots around their ears. Steve feels almost _sick,_ and for a moment he just wants to turn a blind eye to the scene and ignore the blatant reality of it all. But the blond knows that the soldiers deserve better than that. Steve knows he would be grateful if anyone else did the same for him in such a bizarre, tragic circumstance.

With a shuddered breath, the cadet presses on with his mind set in stone. Ignoring the metallic weapons engraved with symbols meant to slaughter demons, or at least give humans a fighting chance. Steve crouches down beside one of the soldiers, cautiously grasping the man’s shoulder and hip furthest away from him, allowing him to warily pull the man onto his back. Though as soon as the thud of the man resounded into the earth, Steve gave a frightened gasp, falling onto his rear with his palms keeping his upper body up off the ground.

 _What happened to you?_ Steve thinks to himself, taking in the red streaks that stain the soldier’s paled skin. From the very corners of his eyes, down to the rim of the black mask that covers his mouth and the bottom half of his nose. _What happens in the rift?_

Shaking himself out of his shock, the blond resumes his crouching beside the soldier, shuffling up a little until he was looking directly down the man’s body. Although a little anxious, the cadet purposefully slipped his hands beneath the soldier until he was holding the upper-half of the larger body off the earth by his underarms. Steve doesn’t know whether he should have been shocked or not that the soldier seemed to weigh so very little as he began to smoothly tug the soldier to his makeshift grave. This form of his wasn’t exactly as toned as the one he worked to have back at the academy; even if he was still rather small and weak compared to the rest of his comrades. Ah, except from when the demon lent the boy his power, and only then could the blond do remarkable things. But although it’s true that he does feel Bucky through their bond right now, he doesn’t necessarily feel the fiend’s power flowing through his cells to lend him strength. Which means that the strength he has right now, is his own… but how is that possible? Perhaps being made in this realm brings its own unique abilities to one’s form. Maybe that explains why he sensed the gateway before Bucky… The only person he can ask is the Empress, and what if she has a different theory to the blond? Steve may look human, but is that all there is to this renewed vessel for his soul?

It’s not something Steve can afford to think about as he drags the first soldier to the very first grave. The hole wasn’t too deep nor wide, only coming up to blond’s chest, its edges slightly sloped. The cadet was able to lay the man down gracefully in the very centre as he cautiously backed up into the grave. Once the soldier’s body was settled, Steve hauled himself out of the dark pit to acknowledge the other man. This time, the cadet wasn’t taken aback by the iron smell of blood that was beginning to taint the air as he heaved the second soldier into their own grave. What he’s doing… he certainly didn’t expect it when he came out with his lover that morning.

A heavy sigh leaving his lips, the cadet went to wipe his brow with the back of his hand, before realising that he didn’t have a single drop of sweat on him as he stepped around the mounds of dirt the fiend had been idly sitting by as he had watched the blond. Bucky desperately wanted to baby him- to take care of the soldier’s himself, but he knew that Steve _needed_ to do this. Needed to be a part of it, even if it was down to the demon to carefully manoeuvre the soft dirt until the graves were filled once again, with the soldiers hidden deep below the surface of the forest.

The fluffy white fur of his belly dotted and smeared in dirt to match his soiled paws, the fiend growled lowly, akin to a purr as he padded over to where his lover stood looking over the graves, the ground upturned being the only sign of something have disturbed the forest. That wet, dirtied snout nuzzled against the blond’s thigh until Steve cast his gaze to lock with those silver orbs, his body automatically relaxing now that he was right beside the demon.

Ah, what a mess. Steve hasn’t a clue what to do with the guns that seems to wink at him every time the light catches their dark surfaces just so. The cadet has so many questions running through his mind that it almost _hurts._ He can merely hope that one day, he will find the answers that he seeks. Including the ones he has about himself. But whether he’s going to like these answers or not… he can’t ever be sure.


	14. The Hunger of Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A happy new year to you all! <3 
> 
> I really hope you all enjoy this chapter. I honestly have absolutely no idea when the next chapter will be posted, considering I haven't even been able to start it due to important exams this week and my not being well- not to worry any of you or anything! >.< I do hope to make a real good headway with chapter fifteen from Saturday onwards though as I have a week off from university, and I do think that it will be worth the wait? Ahaha I hope you will all think so anyway.
> 
> Okay, thank you all again for your support! Take care of yourselves. <3 <3 <3

“Ah! Bucky!” Steve squeals loudly, unable to contain his laughter as the fiend sprays water over him like the sky releasing its dark cloud of rain as his far larger form jumps into the water’s edge. Face turned away with one arm out in a feeble attempt to keep the water from getting into his eyes, the blond chuckles as he hears those sturdy legs shifting through the once tranquil plunge pool. The crystalline blue water runs down the small cliff face of deep green rocks that gleam like emeralds. Right until they disappear where the water crashes into a white froth as it hits the basin that is almost like a small lake that converges into a gentle river that continues into the forest. It would be almost silent, if it weren’t for the trickle of the lake and the sudden thunder of the waterfall that echoes in the tiny break in the forest canopy. Trees enclose them, only the tiniest of the sun’s pinkish rays seeping through to cause the water to twinkle and glisten as if the pool itself were alive and watching their every move. “That wasn’t funny,” the blond insists as he lowers his hand, not quite able to rid his lips of his smile as he looks to the large wolf laying in the blue water with a rather smug expression. In truth, those silver eyes were merely staring at him. It was the soft tail that slapped repeatedly against the water that gave the demon away.

The basin wasn’t too deep at all, only reaching Steve’s chest if he were to venture into the very centre of the cool liquid. But such a thought didn’t appeal to the blond at all. He’s had enough of wading through lakes, even ones where he can depict the rocky bottoms of. The cadet’s body may not be scarred by what happed at the pink lake with vicious creatures days ago, but his mind sure is… He’s more _aware_ of what supposed dangers might come after him. It might be ridiculous to think about, especially knowing that his lover is so close to him, but the blond just can’t stop himself from contemplating _‘what if’_. Sure, the blond will gladly kneel at the water’s edge of a small lake or a river, or even step into a stream that swirls around his ankles, and cup his hands into the pristine liquid, but he will still find himself constantly surveying the world around him. Just in case he finds the slither of a snake-like entity creeping closer, preparing to strike. It’s a fear that Steve hopes with time, will fade. Besides, there are far more pressing matters to be considered. Though perhaps ignoring them for now might be for the best, for what if he doesn’t like the answers that he finds? Because something inside him feels _wrong,_ and it is not the pulsating affection he feels through the bond he has with his demonic lover. No, it’s something wrong with the blond himself. Then again, Steve’s thoughts might just be overreacting.

Stepping closer to the edge of the lake, the blond gently settles himself upon the dry earth that little by little begin to turn into the very same green rocks the closer to the waterfall the land gets. The fiend’s tail continues to slap against the water, sending brief waves to run across the pool before lapping at the damp perimeter. That dark nose pressed down into the water for a moment, bathing the fiend’s muzzle in the cool liquid, before he tilted his head back up again with a quick shake. The younger man watches the demon in amusement, wanting to run his hand through that soft fur. Though preferably once the water has completely washed away the dirt that currently stain those huge wolf-like paws and soft underbelly.

Blue eyes observe the demon who stares right back at him with silver orbs that seem to pierce right through his soul. However, the blond feels something tug from within his chest, as if the fiend is silently asking for something, those sharp teeth and pink tongue unable to produce human sounds. Merely a low, unthreatening growl that seems to turn into a whine directed solely at the younger man, who raises a golden brow in response. When the demon makes the very same noise again, only to suddenly flop onto his side, canine head and the cage of one set of ribs remaining above the waterline, the cadet rolls his eyes fondly. Oh, he knows exactly what Bucky wanted from him. But quite honestly, Steve isn’t sure how keen he is on stepping into the pool.

A sharp, playful bark released into the air, the blond groans lowly in response before hauling himself up. Nibbling at his lower lip, slender fingers grasp the edge of his shirt, tentatively pulling the fabric over his head, ruffling golden locks in the process. Almost as if the younger male has just gotten out of bed from a restless night. Then, still chewing at the soft flesh of his bottom lip, the cadet hooks his thumbs into the waist band of his trousers, before gently tugging the tight material from the pale skin of his legs. All the while, Steve can distinctly feel those moon-lit eyes boring into him, as if the flames of two scorching candles were being held beside his skin. Deciding to keep the bare minimum of modesty, the blond keeps his dark underwear on, the soft fabric clinging to his jutting hipbones, and exposing just the smallest portion of the flesh of his ass. Looking to the earth almost shyly, the younger man begins the short trek forward until his toes dipped into the cool water. Although with the way the peeking sunlight made porcelain skin shine with a soft glow that contrasted the hue of shadowy fabric sticking to him -and by the short whine that left that wolfish muzzle - Steve knew that the demon would far prefer the view of a naked warrior. But that, the cadet wasn’t going to give to him. The golden-haired man can be a tease when he wants to be! Sort of…

“Splash me, and I won’t kiss you for the rest of the day,” Steve mock threatens, blue orbs glancing up at the fiend who lets out a sound almost like a soft chuckle. “I mean it,” he says, so full of a certainty he knows could be diminished by just a mere touch from the demon. How can one possibly resist the one who has their soul, and their heart?

That white tail merely thumps in the water in response to Steve’s empty words, knowing the younger man far too well as he watches his smaller form wander into the water as he ventures towards the fiend. The blond seemingly hesitates once the water reaches his calves, but before the demon could give a noise of encouragement, the cadet was already continuing the invisible path he set himself. Shifting through the cool liquid, tiny bumps raise on Steve’s legs and arm like miniscule hills that would feel oddly soft to the touch. And as he reaches the patiently awaiting fiend, the blond knows that being so close to such a warm entity, it won’t be long until he forgets the coldness of the water that brushes against his thighs.

“Don’t think I’ll do this when you’re in your normal form,” Steve muses with a teasing smirk, raising one golden brow at the fiend as he stood in front of that soft underbelly stained with the forest’s dirt. Though the thought of running his hands across those course, charcoal feathers certainly wasn’t an unpleasant one. Especially when such an action would surely lead him to dragging his fingers slowly across the wet, taut muscles of the demon’s bare chest, smooth under the soft pads of his fingers. And just maybe, strong hands would be upon Steve himself, grasping at his hips and tugging him closer to the fiend’s undeniable heat… until their lips would surely meet in a tender kiss that would soon turn into something far less appropriate. Then again, would it really be inappropriate considering that the bonded pair are very much on their own? At least more often than not. It’s strange to think about. The blond used to pray for more time alone with his demon during the commotion of the academy, but he didn’t quite expect to be able to have _so much_ time for them to just be… themselves. It’s oddly dream-like.

With a content smile the younger man reaches out one hand to allow his fingers to comb through the damp fur coating the demon’s ribcage, before stepping a little closer so that his knees were inches from the fiend’s stomach. Despite Bucky taking the form of an enormous wolf, the fiend still held that distinct smell that was unique to him. The scent standing out against the purity of the water and earthiness of the mud tainting the ends of his fur in brownish patches. As Steve trails his hand more firmly against the demon’s coat, he lets his fingers slip a little further down until his fingers were firmly forcing those dirt particles free of that luxurious white fur.  The specks and fragments of earth seep into the water, catching on the natural current to wash around and through the cadet’s legs before dissipating down the placid river.

“Thank you,” the blond murmurs as his other hands joins the one cascading over tinted fur, as if he were scrubbing the demon’s pelt clean with his fingers. “For what you did for me… for _them,”_ he says, nothing but sincere with his words. “I know that you didn’t have to. Ah, or even want to do such a thing for them… but I appreciate that you still allowed them some dignity in death, even if you did so only because I asked.” The younger man arches his back as his palms brush down further along the demon’s abdomen, fingers dipping into the water. “I promise that I will make it up to you later, considering… our earlier activities were interrupted, hm?” Steve hums almost teasingly, risking a tentatively glance up to find those silver orbs staring right at him. A second later, that hefty tail slapped against the water in something the blond could only describe as excitement. An eagerness Steve felt in his own heart, for he can’t help but feel as if it was partly his fault that the bonded pair were interrupted before they had even truly begun enjoying each other’s touch.

A light-hearted laugh bubbles up from the blond’s chest, a grin sliding onto his lips as he shook his head at the fiend’s reaction. Steve almost made some sort of sarcastic comment about how Bucky’s mind seemed to almost always be on giving the younger man pleasure. But in reality, although the demon’s mind remains focused on making sure that Steve feels good, that doesn’t necessarily mean the two of them being sexually intimate. After all, since being in this realm, they have only made love once, and since then, the two have been wrapped up in innocent hugs and chaste kisses that haven’t gone any further than that. The blond has a feeling that Bucky wants to reach and topple over the edge of ecstasy together again (for Steve feels the very same way) but merely hasn’t been sure what he should allow the younger man’s new body to endure. Especially since… a certain attack at an otherwise tranquil, pink lake. Steve appreciates Bucky’s thoughtfulness. He truly does. But he’s closing in on the end of his own tether too. Because nothing… _nothing_ feels better than having his lover nestled deep inside his warmth- being connected together in a way Steve never thought he would experience. In such a blissful moment, he cannot help but feel complete. Maybe such a thing sounds naïve, and maybe it is, considering that Steve has never been with anyone else, and doesn’t ever want to be. Still, it’s as if his soul itself knows that Bucky’s shadows are what he’s been needing all this time.

It isn’t too long until the demon’s white coat has been kneaded clean by slender fingers carding through that thick pelt. It was safe to say that Steve ended up having to wash his own arms in the transparent water, for his skin became matted with white strands that seemed to stick to him as if they had a mind of their own and wished to become a part of the younger male. Bucky, ever the tease, only seemed to snort in his wolfish form as Steve complained about it, to which the fiend earned himself a light glare of ocean orbs in return. Still, there’s something wonderfully… tranquil about this lingering moment between them. As if rubbing the demon’s muzzle free of dirt and carefully massaging those large paws that dwarfed Steve’s hands was something that only served to soothe the bonded pair. Steve has to admit, while washing the demon’s fur, petting behind those sturdy ears and hearing that tail swishing through the water in delight did nothing but bring his heart peace. The memories of earlier that day far from being on his mind. But it’s not just the past that threatens to unsettle the cadet’s thoughts, but the future, too. However right now, Steve cannot bring himself to contemplate the task that lays ever closer to them, nor think of the omnipotent demon who the pair still owe.

Wiping a little at the flesh of his outer thigh, the blond looks up to find silver eyes watching him. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that those demonic orbs are observing the shiny water droplets that trickle down from pale hips, the peaks of which barely exposed by the tight underwear he adorns. With a lop-sided grin, the younger man elegantly wades through the water, the cool liquid splashing at his lower thighs as he stepped in front of the fiend who stood as still as a statue, belly dripping into the pool beneath them. Where Bucky was silently waiting near the edge of the lake, the water only reached the ends of those strong legs, and the tip of one tail that has become motionless.

At least, the demon remained unmoving until the blond cupped those wolfish cheeks into his hands and leant down just a little until he could press a warm kiss to the bridge of the fiend’s faintly wet muzzle. Just a quick, innocent peck, but it was enough to have that tail thumping almost violently side to side as large, silver eyes stared up like a puppy begging for affection. Undeniably, this form of Bucky’s was incredibly easy to read- as if the demon has become some sort of open book for blue eyes to fixate on. Though truthfully, Bucky can be stoic-faced, and Steve would still be able to sense the fiend’s emotions through the bridge of their bond.

“Let’s find somewhere to dry off, yeah?” The blond suggests, removing his touch from the demon before he began the short walk back to the calm shore. Certain that they could find a nice patch of warm grass to lay down in, the blond doesn’t worry about the slight breeze that caresses his form, catching on the droplets that almost make the warrior glimmer like a jewel. Shimmering like the emerald-like rocks the blond’s feet touch as the water around his limbs drops lower and lower until only his ankles are subjected to the cold liquid. One final pace, and Steve reaches the dry earth that instantly soaks with the water dripping from the balls of his feet. Though with every step the younger man takes forward, the smooth-stone encrusted soil dries as if one damp form wasn’t peacefully walking across it.

Once the blond comes across his clothes that had been abandoned on the clearing floor, he contemplates what to do with them for a brief moment. He could pick them up, or merely allow them to dissolve back into shadows once again. Steve figures that the demon certainly wouldn’t mind it if he went without clothes for a little longer. Hell, the younger man wouldn’t put it past his lover for him to make the material vanish in the blink of an eye, including the underwear sticking to his skin right in this moment. Only to tease the blond, refusing to make him more clothes until Steve would give him whatever the demon desires: an innocent kiss, or something far less chaste. Not that the smaller man would mind either way. Far from it, in fact.

With a mental shrug, the nodules of his spine become more pronounced as he bends over to collect his clothes, aware of the _slosh_ of the water behind him, but not thinking much of it. Not even when the sound stopped completely, did the blond suspect anything. Though perhaps the growing heat that seemed to be radiating from behind him should have given him some sort of clue. Instead, his naïve mind assumed that his demon was still in the lake, and yet his back feels as if it was beginning to burn. As if the sun rays were getting closer and closer to scorching his pale skin.

And yet, only a moment later a surprised gasp pushes past pink lips at the feel of a wet form pressing against him. Spine automatically straightening on instinct, his leans back as the soaked form nestles tight against him, just as strong arms entangle around his waist. The hold only served to jolt the younger man more forcefully against the demon’s _very_ naked form. Steve didn’t have to see to know that the fiend was showing absolute zero decency in this moment. It wasn’t just the feel of wet skin slotting against his own, but the rather obvious bulge that was currently digging into his lower back, uncontained, and awfully hot.

“Somethin’ on your mind?” The younger man purrs lowly, mimicking what the demon had said only earlier that very same day. He could practically feel the fiend’s stormy growl vibrating in his chest, reverberating right into the cadet’s spine only to trickle down to warm his abdomen. Steve chuckles at Bucky’s response, allowing the soft fabric in his grasp to fall to the floor with a padded _thud._ The very second his hands became free, Steve reaches back until his fingers begin to delve into the demon’s thick, brown locks atop his head.

“Just you, my little warrior,” the fiend hums, voice seemingly heavy, as if it were being weighed down by rough boulders.

“Oh really? What about me?” He teases, turning his head to the side to expose his vulnerable neck to the demon whose warm breath the blond can already feel against his sensitive skin.

“Everything…” Bucky confesses, full of affection as he takes the opportunity for his lips to caress the smooth, unblemished silk of the smaller male’s throat. With a few purely chaste kisses, the demon makes his way up slowly until he can nip at the blond’s pink earlobe, eliciting a gasp of a moan from his younger lover. Then, and only then does the demon speak gruffly into Steve’s ear, a devilish smirk toying at his lips. “But mostly about how it feels to have my cock in your tight heat.”

“Oh my gods,” Steve giggles, a deep blush immediately heating the vessels beneath his cheeks. Bucky certainly knows how to press his buttons in all the right ways, even though hearing the demon voice such dirty words makes him feel strange. It’s a good feeling though. As if a sphere of warmth has embedded itself in his gut, heating him up from the inside. “Where did you hear that line from, hm?” The blond teases, angling his head until his gaze interlocked with silver rings.

“You don’t like it?” The fiend quirks a brow, already feeling the younger male’s arousal fizzing through the solidity of their bond. Truthfully, the dark class had already learnt the phrase one night while the younger man had slept soundly beside him, curled up against Bucky’s muscular chest as if he were a pillow. Needless to say, regardless of the walls of the Rogers’ apartment being rather thin, Bucky could easily hear how in the early hours of one morning, right below them, two lovers laughed and kissed… which quickly turned into a tumble of things being knocked off what Bucky believes to have been a table. Perhaps a desk, before the sounds of muffled moans hit his ears, only for a distinct voice to dominate them entirely. It was an _interesting_ thing to overhear. Not quite to Bucky’s tastes, but some of it didn’t fail to catch his interest in such things. And he wondered, if saying certain things into his own lover’s ears would elicit the same pleasurable responses.

“I didn’t say that,” he replies on a breath, the tips of his toes digging into the ground as he pressed back with more strength, feeling Bucky’s cock rubbing against the small of his back as he does so. In fact, the younger male even perceives a suffocating moan caressing his ear, the demon giving an experimental roll of his hips, stopping when Steve ends up shifting forward with the movement.

“Here? Now?” The fiend utters, voice gravelly while his hands seemingly innocently roam the blond’s smooth chest. The pad of one metallic thumb ghosts over a pinkened nub, feeling the smooth skin beneath his sensors while his other arm refuses to release the hold he has around Steve’s narrow waist.

“Mmm, maybe,” the cadet teases, nibbling at his bottom lip to try and stop the smile that was trying to overwrite his blushing expression. Honestly, a part of Steve is a little nervous, for he wants to try something new with his lover. Well, it’s not entirely new in a sense, but it’s something Steve himself hasn’t done before. He’s thought about it a few times but has always worried that he wouldn’t be any good at it. What if he just ends up embarrassing himself instead of bring Bucky pleasure? Because it’s always been either only Steve coming at the demon’s hands (or mouth) or they reach ecstasy together. In that regard, the blond thinks that Bucky has always been very patient with him, never expecting anything in return: never asking something of Steve that the blond would be unsure of.

“Maybe?” Bucky repeats, confused by his beloved’s answer. Especially as he doesn’t think he can really wait until they get back to the cave to solve this… pressing issue he currently has.

“I want to try somethin’ else with you,” Steve admits shyly, looking to the ground before risking a glimpse into silver eyes. “If you’ll let me.”

“Oh? What is it?” Bucky queries, nothing but curious as a bashful smile toys with the pink lips he desperately wants to kiss.

“You can consider it your reward,” he muses, leaning his head back a fraction until it rested on the fiend’s shoulder, allowing him to stare right up at his lover’s features as dark locks tickle his temple.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah,” the younger man sighs out, as if already in a state of intoxicating bliss. Ah, but little can compare to when their two bodies can meld together. Sinfully or purely with innocence. At this point, it doesn’t matter, not when they both know that at the base of their actions, lies love.

Pursing his plump lips, the blond silently asks his soulmate for a kiss Bucky gladly indulges him in, allowing their lips to each capture the other’s in a sweet press of soft flesh. Although the angle makes it more awkward than Steve would ideally like, he still breaks their leisurely kiss in favour of giving a quick peck to the corner of the demon’s mouth, then the sharp line of his jaw before mumbling to the older man.

“But I can’t give you your reward unless you let me go.” It’s a simple enough bribe, but the dark class still gives his lover an uncertain look. “I won’t go far, I promise.” Oh, he more than means it, and soon enough, Bucky will surely find out what the blond has in mind to please him.

Reluctantly, the demon releases his embrace of the smaller male, his fingertips ghosting across Steve’s bare waist as if itching to hold the cadet closer to him once more. An addiction that can’t be cured, not that the demon would ever want such a thing to occur. He would gladly drown himself in the intoxication of his lover, because Steve has saved him in ways the blond is even yet to know. But that’s a story for another time. Right now, Bucky’s thoughts are like birds being chased out of his mind as he watches the younger male with intense curiosity.

True to his word, the blond doesn’t go far at all, but merely turns to face the demon, gazing up at him with mischievous, stubborn blue eyes. Tilting up onto the tips of his toes, the smaller male places a chaste kiss to the fiend’s slightly wet lips while slender fingers trail the front of that muscular chest without Steve even realising what he’s doing. Not until he rocks back onto his heels, sucking his own bottom lip into his mouth as his ocean stare flickers down to the demon’s collarbone, suddenly unable to look his lover in the eyes.

Cheeks heating up with an embarrassed pink hue, the younger man very slowly begins to sink onto his knees; fingertips mapping down the valleys and hills of the demon’s chest and taut hips until they finally rest on Bucky’s firm thighs.

The dark class can feel a low growl of arousal rumbling in his throat before he could stop it, for he can feel Steve’s warm breaths feather-light on his length with every exhale the cadet takes. Steve hasn’t even touched him yet – at least not where he right now needs it most, but he wasn’t going to rush the younger male or pressure him to go on – and the demon is very much aching, the bulbous head of his cock as red as the blond’s cheeks have become. And _gods,_ Bucky could have come right there and then when Steve suddenly looked up at him: those blue rings have darkened by black pupils that have blown wide with his own arousal. It’s a sight the demon won’t ever forget as his member twitches with interest but that still doesn’t mean that he won’t verbally make sure that Steve wants this too.

“Steve?” Bucky doesn’t have to look in a mirror to know that his silver orbs are glowing with _hunger._ The desires of darkness coming forth tenfold at the delicious sight at his feet.

No one could possibly blame Bucky for the guttural, needy moan that leaves him as he feels cherry-blossom lips press tentatively against his heated flesh for a lingering second, right below the sensitive slit of his throbbing length.

“I’m sorry if I’m terrible at this…” Steve murmurs bashfully, entirely apologetic and they haven’t even begun. That just won’t do as far as the demon is concerned.

“I don’t think you will be…” The fiend replies, voice heavy as if weighed down by the gravel of his throaty voice. “I’m already close.” Just the thought of Steve…

“Yeah?” The blond breathes out nervously. His voice is barely above a whisper before he began nibbling his lower lip slightly, pulling at the sensitive skin as he stares almost thoughtfully at the bead of hazy white that trickles from the slit of his lover’s hardened cock. Undoubtedly salty, but the blond knows that the taste will be distinctly _Bucky._ And what could taste better to him than that?

“Yeah, you look so gorgeous right now, Steve. You sure you want to do this?” He’s giving his lover an out, for there are plenty of other intimate things the pair could get up to while they find themselves very much alone in the vast forest. But Steve just looks up at him with the sweetest smile, certainty set in those glistening pools that will undeniably soon be watering for the most sinful of reasons.

“With you, I’m always sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Demon Bond Two Year Anniversary Design Competition is now CLOSED!  
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> 
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	15. At the Mercy of Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After three weeks, here's chapter 15 at last. Thank you all so, so much for your patience.  
> The chapter wasn't supposed to basically be all smut... but that's just how it worked out ahaha  
> So, I hope you all enjoy reading! With my health and university, again, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be posted (keep in mind about 2-3 weeks) but keep an eye out for the end notes as I'll be updating that as I work on the upcoming chapter.
> 
> Note: Also added some new tags just in case XD

What is it about Steve that the dark class finds so irresistible?  Bucky could produce an ever-growing list detailing everything that the blond does that makes the fiend feel the tug of something within his heart. The way slender fingers push golden locks away from irritating two pools of blue with a slight turn of his head accompanying the movement. That pale skin catching the light of the burning sun or the shadowy moon, glistening as if Steve were a star in his own right. Warmth from the amber glow of his aura that never fails to ease the demon’s muscles into relaxation when he feels it mixing in with his own far darker energy. Ah, one can’t forget to mention that sheer stubbornness that seems to be the key to riling Bucky up in the best and worst of ways. But Steve’s nature above all is proud and caring. The desire to help others and do what is _right_ has always led the cadet into trouble, and that in itself the demon can’t help but adore. Oh, it damn right annoys Bucky, considering he is someone who cares for very, very few people. Well, just _one._ But that doesn’t mean that he can’t appreciate that look Steve gets in his eyes just before the blond announces that he wants to do something- help someone… Save the world. It’s a look that has gotten them into trouble, and brought death upon them, but it just makes the blond who he is, and Bucky wouldn’t want him to ever change. Even as they are yet to face their greatest challenge, that might just tear them apart.

 _“With you, I’m always sure.”_ Those purely innocently words had filtered past plush lips, and yet regardless of how chaste the notion was, it still undeniably causes Bucky’s cock to visibly _twitch._ Blue orbs snap down, as if surprised by the obvious twinge of arousal, before those same innocent eyes swiftly drifted up to meet with silver ones. And those lips that had been a sweet smile just a second ago, suddenly changed into what Bucky could only call a sly smirk, as if the younger male was finally realising the affect he has on the dark class. As if those ocean orbs were becoming filled with a stubbornness to seek out just how much pleasure he can bring to the demon. In that very second, Bucky knew that he could come apart with fierce lust all too quickly.

Though that notion still didn’t prepare the poor demon for what came next.

The thick muscles of Bucky’s thighs and the taut valleys of his abdomen practically jump beneath the cage of his skin as pale, slender fingers tentatively wrap around his cock. Almost shyly, the blond gives the throbbing length a short tug, the motion eased by the slick of the cool water against the demon’s heated flesh. A rough moan of pleasure vibrates in Bucky’s throat, silver eyes lazily shutting with the wave of euphoria that rushes over him.

“S-steve,” Bucky groans out, biting back a growl of bliss as he tries to keep himself steady. As still as an erotic statue so that he won’t disturb his lover who still sits obediently on his knees in front of the dark class.

Merely letting out a content hum in response – though the sound was also a little smug if at all possible – the younger male rests his hand securely around the swollen base, keeping the reddened tip of Bucky’s member close to his plump lips. Barely a centimetre apart as the blond’s soft breaths cause a shiver to tingle along the demon’s spine. Gods, this feels like some sort of wet dream to the fiend, and if his each and every cell wasn’t so filled with strength, his knees would have buckled under him at the mere sight of baby blues staring at his cock as if it were the most intriguing thing in the sleeping forest.

Honestly, Steve is incredibly nervous; the thought of displeasing his lover weighing heavily on his mind. Of course, his heart is telling him that however he does _this,_ or even if he suddenly backed out, the fiend wouldn’t be disappointed in him. But that doesn’t mean that the blond wouldn’t be disappointed in himself. It’s not that he feels as if he has to do this, and in that sense, there’s really no pressure for him to continue… but he _wants_ to do this. Wants to taste Bucky’s come on his tongue and hear the deep moans the demon wouldn’t be able to hold back. To groan the cadet’s name as he reaches ecstasy. Still, regardless of all that, there’s this lingering uncertainty that comes hand in hand with his lack of experience. Oh, Steve is well aware of what he, uh, has to do… but knowing something from mere talk amongst friends and second-hand experience doesn’t equate to first-hand knowledge. _Ah, fuck it._ The worst that can happen is that he doesn’t get Bucky off and instead becomes embarrassed at his own failure.

Giving a light squeeze to Bucky’s erection, the blond leans in before he can second guess himself, pink tongue flicking out to drag along the head of the demon’s cock in curiosity. Barely a heartbeat later, ocean pools snap up to the demon in something akin to seeking confirmation. Bucky bows his head in a subtle nod, a muffled hum catching in his throat at the physical restraint to keep his hips securely in place.

Adjusting his tentative touch upon his lover’s length, Steve angles his bare throat a little, still awkwardly gazing up at the dark class with glossy orbs. Caught off guard, Bucky has to hold back a moan as he watches the younger male suddenly lick a long, wet stripe from the base of the hot underside of the demon’s cock to the now leaking tip. Catching misty precome on that exploring tongue, the blond doesn’t hesitate as he swallows it, feeling his chest warm and tingle with the sensation. It tasted oddly like minerals from the water they had just been in, yet there was a distinct saltiness to it. Sort of bitter, yet the blond doesn’t find himself minding at all.

Newfound confidence leading him on, the younger male’s tongue slipped between parted lips to swirl around the engorged head of Bucky’s length, catching more of his lover’s addictive taste. But so lost in his concentration, he barely registers the metallic hue in his right peripheral vision. Getting closer and closer until those silver fingers began carding through silky, golden strands; stroking the younger male’s soft fringe from the blue of his eyes that were still very much gazing up without mercy. The gentle, encouraging touch remains there as glowing rings stare down at the erotic sight at his feet, muscular chest rising and falling in the beginnings of utter bliss. Watching, as if the demon feared that this was some sort of dream, and he would wake up too soon with an ache and a need and all alone in darkness. Ah, that, and fearing that he would be brought to his inevitable climax too soon and this gorgeous sight would end far too quickly for his liking.

The grip against golden locks tightens a fraction instinctively, but the smaller male pays the touch no mind. Instead, he honestly finds some sort of strange comfort from it as he runs his wet tongue along the tiny slit of Bucky’s cock, before pressing a heated, open-mouthed kiss to the silky head.

The demon groans intoxicatingly low in his throat, so desperately wanting to chase the touch and grind his hips forward against those pink lips. But he can’t, for he needs to let Steve take the lead in this, even if his hips shift just a fraction with his restraining force. As if knowing that he’s driving the fiend to the very edge of insanity, the younger male tugs the thick length once more, before finally… _finally_ wrapping alluring lips around the tip of the demon’s erection. Swiping his tongue over the salty head, Steve relishes in the taste as he then slides it firmly to the veiny underside. Feeling Bucky’s cock jerk upon his tongue, the blond moans softly as his lips secure around the bulbous head; only then does he allow his cheeks to innocently hollow out, giving Bucky that unforgiving pressure he’s been craving.

“Ah, yeah,” Bucky moans out, unabashed as he leaks precome into his lover’s eager mouth. Refusing to allow silver eyes to shut, the demon burns the exquisite view before him into his memory. Of Steve’s lips on his cock, blue eyes looking up at him with a naivety that only gets Bucky harder… if that was at all possible. “You look so good right now, Steve,” he praises, voice as gravelly as boulders rubbing together.

The blond hums contently in response, releasing the pressure with a wet smack of his lips as he leisurely strokes Bucky’s cock again, twisting his wrist to rub his palm flat against the sensitive tip. But, like an addict who can’t quite get enough of their fix, the blond’s hand drifts to loop the space between his thumb and finger around the base of the pinkened cock, the rest of his hand planting flat against the demon’s groin. More of that aching length now exposed to him, the younger man eagerly trails his tongue along the heated skin over and over again, replacing droplets of bluish water with his own thin trail of shiny saliva. Whenever he reaches the dripping tip, his actions don’t fail to reward him with a pleasured grunt from the fiend.

Once seemingly satisfied, the blond proceeds to leave less than chaste kisses up the aching length, teasingly slow in exploration as every few kisses he would glance up at the older male. Right until that sensitive head caresses and trickles against Steve’s plump lips, marring that pink surface in the faintest smear of white. A second later, that teasing tongue snaked out once more, smooth against the tip of Bucky’s member, dipping firmly into the drooling slit as darkened blue orbs gaze up into silver rings. With nothing but mischief and lust swirling within those ocean irises, the blond wraps his lips tightly around the head of Bucky’s cock, a moan vibrating at the base of his throat as he gently sucks his lover’s length further into his awaiting warmth. Just a little bit further. However, the demon’s cock is barely a couple inches inside the heat of Steve’s cavern, yet the blond’s rosy lips are already stretching sweetly to accommodate Bucky’s almost inhuman girth.

It was an odd feeling that washed over the younger male as he felt precome trickle and pool onto the back of his tongue, but the cadet only continues to fervently suck more of Bucky’s cock past his needy lips; before unleashing a loud moan that reverberates viciously along the heavy length. The demon can feel the ardent vibrations seep right through his cock into the pit of his abdomen- twisting like electric heat at the very base of his spine. Honestly, the fiend wasn’t sure when he’s looking into those alluring blues, whether he’s gazing at an angel, or the devil. Because surely nothing pure can feel this _good?_ But even the fallen Lucifer, is still an angel despite everything. No matter though, because all Bucky can think about is that the blond on his knees, sucking on his cock as if it were the sweetest tasting thing, is _his._ His lover, his saviour, his everything. Bucky would endure his past all over again, if it would mean being allowed to witness this sinful sight. Because, _Lord,_ this would be the subject of his dreams for weeks to come.

Refusing to let up on the seductive pressure around Bucky’s hardened member, the blond inches back ever so teasingly slow, drawing out a low moan from the demon once his lips met with the darkening tip; gently suckling it as Steve all too innocently enjoys the rich taste of misty white dripping and catching between his lips and tongue. All at once, without mercy, those silver digits embedded in golden locks tighten at the roots instinctively. For without meaning to, they quickly urge the younger male on until he obediently takes Bucky’s cock into his warmth again, the swollen length easily sliding past wet lips. Not that the younger male minds in the slightest. The demon himself certainly has no protests as blue eyes blissfully droop shut; cautiously beginning to bob his head in a painfully slow rhythm as he takes more of Bucky’s length into his warmth each time he swallows around his lover’s cock, not once forgetting to provide the demon that intoxicating pressure.

The fiend instinctively throws his head back with a deep moan that seemed to echo right over the cascade of the waterfall. Though almost immediately, Bucky tilts forward again so that he could hungrily watch the way Steve so obediently took his cock. Even though those beautifully reddened lips were barely brushing half way down his length, slender fingers making up for it by firmly pumping the rest of his girth in an off-set beat.

“Steve,” the dark class calls, tone an aroused, thundering growl. But the blond doesn’t react, merely continues as if the demon hadn’t beckoned to him. After all, it wouldn’t have been the first time that Bucky says his name for absolutely no reason but to purely say it. However, right now, wasn’t one of those times. No, the demon very much wants something. _Now._ “Look at me…” He murmurs, breaths deep and filling his lungs to their breaking point, before being exhaled into the humid air. But his words aren’t loud enough to catch the younger male’s attention, much to the demon’s dismay. So, what can one do but call out again in passionate desperation? A fervid need founded on the desire for ecstasy. _“Look at me.”_

Without so much as a flicker of embarrassment under the demon’s weighty gaze, oceans orbs flutter open to peer up the taut muscles of his lover’s chest until interlocking with silver rings glowing with sheer, unforgiving lust. A rumble of a growl resounds at the back of the demon’s throat when he perceives those baby blues, glistening with the beginnings of tears that make those dilated pupils seem like polished onyx stones.

“You’re so beautiful,” the demon utters proudly, coercing a breathy moan from his lover in return. Those porcelain cheeks reddened impossibly further with the sweet praise, though the younger male willingly quickens his pace a little, setting himself a steady rhythm under the fiend’s intense stare. “Mm, you’re doing really well, Steve,” he purrs, adoring the way the smaller man’s eyes flutter on a moan in response.

The blond wants nothing more in this moment than to please his lover. And so, to know that he is doing just that sends this addictive thrill to dive into his amber core. Bucky’s cock is heavy and hot in the silky wetness of his mouth, pink tongue marred with musky droplets that are yet to be swallowed into the darkness of the cadet’s soft throat. But the thought that he might be able to bring the demon further pleasure drifts at the very back of his mind, crawling forth until it’s all that he can think of. Without contemplating the consequences, the younger male’s rosy lips stretch further along the demon’s girth, trying to inch his way down his lover’s impressive length. Though, clearly by what occurred next, the blond took too much too eagerly, for in an instant Steve felt his throat tightening sharply before gagging around the demon’s cock. Abruptly pulling back, Steve coughed to ease the odd sensation, eyes watering as his cheeks darkened their hue in embarrassment.

“Shh, don’t push yourself,” Bucky chuckles adoringly, voice soft and far from mocking as his organic hand strokes the side of the younger male’s face; calloused thumb ghosting across one high cheek bone before stretching up to wipe away a stray tear. “You were makin’ me feel so good, Steve,” he hums, such simple words reassuring the younger male that this wasn’t some sort of test he had to pass. Besides, the demon hardly expected Steve to be able to take the entirety of his cock between those bewitching lips. At least not the first time without some practice…

Giving the almost shy male a doting smile, his runs his fingers along the edge of the blond’s jawline, before retracting the touch of his hand altogether. However, he gently encourages the smaller male to take his cock between ruby lips once again with those tender, metallic fingers embedded into silky locks. If the blond was unsure about continuing, it certainly doesn’t show as the cadet obediently complies… if still a touch embarrassed as he resumes willingly taking as much of the demon’s hardness into his mouth as he can manage. At least without risking further awkwardness of his part.

“So good for me, my _zaidtoah,_ ” the demon utters, unable to help the encouraging words that seem to flow from his own sweet lips. The blond doesn’t understand the final word Bucky had said, but he knows it can only be something good. And this mere fact has him dizzy with the praise, moaning sinfully around his lover’s thick cock; tongue sliding against the lines of the veiny underside. The blond is practically able to feel Bucky’s relentless pulse against him as he presses up and hollows his cheeks intently. As if he couldn’t quite get enough of the hot length against the welcoming velvet of his mouth, the bitter earthiness of the demon’s precome like a drug to him. Knowing that he’s giving the demon pleasure a high he can liken to nothing else.

Though perhaps if he knew what the fiend had just said, it may have given him pause. Because _zaidtoah_ is not just some mere term of endearment. No, it has the human English equivalent of _soulmate._ Something with a far deeper meaning than being one’s lover. When individuals are destined to be together- where there isn’t possibly anyone else but them. Only them. To be in a state of anything less than lovers would make one feel incomplete. Steve can feel it in his heart, but the words at his disposal cannot even begin to truly describe it. But, _zaidotah..._ maybe that would be a good place to start.

The robust muscles of the demon’s thighs twinge, coercing his hips instinctively forwards a mere fraction into his lover’s sweet warmth. Like little knots forming along his groin, coiling within his abdomen, the dark class could feel himself tightening with his impending orgasm. The younger male’s inviting heat is just too much. Too _good_ , and yet those watering eyes were nothing but devilish as he found himself starring into their entrancing hue. Like an insect caught in a web. Except that Bucky has no intention of trying to escape, but merely allow himself to succumb to the pleasure the other is offering him oh so willingly.

Bucky felt the intense rush of his cock swelling, just ever so slightly, but with the loud, purely erotic moan Steve lets out, the demon is sure that the blond can tell. The deep vibrations form a spark right along his throbbing length, the white-hot sensation gathering at the base of his cock, and the fiend doesn’t have to announce to the younger of the two that he’s _close._ Too close, that Bucky almost doesn’t want this moment to end, but the need for release brought about by his beloved’s mouth is not something he can ignore easily… and those blue eyes are practically begging him: _come for me._

How is he supposed to resist that?

Steve can feel Bucky’s intense pleasure swarming in his own chest, growing tenfold as if it were blossoming. The heat as if rays of the hot sun had become trapped within the blond’s very core. The satisfaction that he himself feels in response is immense. A sense of accomplishment overcoming him before the demon even reaches the height of his ecstasy. This is all new to him – certainly intimidating, given his lack of experience and the size of his lover’s cock which weighs heavy on his wet tongue, stretching swollen lips – but his stubbornness to bring Bucky sole pleasure overrides any anxieties that try to dig beneath his porcelain skin.

“Steve…Steve,” the dark class chants over and over, that needy word becoming hoarse as his tone gradually boarders along an animalistic growl stuck in his throat. Ecstasy tugging at his core, threatening to send him over the edge of all reason. His lover’s slender fingers pumping the base of his cock feel too hot against his sensitive skin, his veins throbbing with the sheer desire to spill bitter white over that teasing tongue. _“Fuck,”_ he curses, gritting his teeth as metallic fingers clench a little too harshly amongst golden strands that curl between his knuckles. The blond only finds himself moaning sinfully at the touch, the jerky movements of his hand quickening to bring the demon’s pleasure painfully closer to the surface. And as he does so, he sucks in those pinkened cheeks; every time he reaches the bulbous head of Bucky’s cock, he’s sure to press his tongue against the weeping tip. “I love you. Love you so much,” he moans instinctively, the pure affection in such words echoing into reddened ears and felt right in the blond’s swelling heart. No, the demon doesn’t have to say it to ensure that Steve knows that he loves him, but he just needed to say it regardless. To reaffirm it despite it being so obvious through the warm pulsations of their bond. _“Steve.”_ It’s a warning as a noise like thunder rumbles through his chest, silver rings falling shut as metallic fingers reassert their grip, muscles jumping and twitching beneath his taut skin.

The younger man slides his lips from the demon’s cock with the most obscene wet sound, a fragile string of his own saliva trailing between swollen lips and the tip of a reddened cock before the shiny strand snaps. In the very same instant, the whirlwind whip of wings being released from the demon’s spine crushed the sound of the demon’s guttural moan; black feathers encase the smaller male in their shadow, darkening the ground at his bare feet. Ocean blues slip shut with a soft gasp, the hand still wrapped around Bucky’s cock pumping the slick length in a quickening rhythm as it throbs and twitches before seconds later finally bursting with electric, overwhelming pleasure. Hot come paints right across pinkened cheeks, thick and sticky on Steve’s faintly parted lips, staining the swollen flesh in splashes of white. As the demon’s cock pulses, milky streaks fall onto porcelain skin; cascading along the side of the blond’s jaw before beginning to drip down to land upon one pink chest – where a few droplets curl around a pert nipple - and the curved muscles of pale thighs.

Breathing deeply, Bucky removes his metallic grip from gold strands, carding through them until they slip through his fingertips to fall across the younger male’s forehead. Luminescent silver orbs drift open to take in the tainted sight set like a painting right at his feet. And, _oh_ , how he wishes he could frame it. But even if he can’t stick of photograph of this moment upon one of the walls of their home, needless to say, the fiend would certainly never forget the look of utter bliss on the other’s face as baby blues squint open.

Slender fingers still obediently work the demon’s twitching length, coercing a few meagre pearls from the sensitive slit until calloused fingers entwine gently around his pale wrist, silently pulling his sticky palm away before the dark class releases him. Steve says nothing, his own breaths ragged, and lips swollen as he gazes up at the fiend expectantly. If a little flushed too, like some debauched angel. As if he was awaiting some sort of instruction as he remains kneeling in front of his lover, the feel of white clinging to his skin somehow… far from unappealing. Maybe it wouldn’t be foolish to say that the cadet _likes_ it.

A hum of sheer approval reverberating at the base of the fiend’s throat, metal fingers ghost across the silky strands around the younger male’s red-tipped ear, drifting down and curving along the blond’s cheek with his thumb. Leisurely, as if they had all the time across every realm, the silver pad smears white onto its surface, carving a path across painted skin before the digit slides and presses against glistening lips.

Understanding the not so subtle hint, Steve opens up his mouth a little more, feeling the warm metal push past willing flesh until he could taste a certain bitterness on the silk of his tongue. A needy sigh caught in his throat, the blond doesn’t for a second break apart their locked gazes as he curiously suckles on the digit, tasting Bucky’s come and relishing in the heated look the demon gives him in return for his eagerness.

Steve continues to obediently suck on his lover’s thumb, though only for another heavenly moment before pulling away from the metallic taste sliding across his tongue. The blond licks his lips, their reddened hue coming back to them as pearly white is cleared from their soft surface, before a lopsided grin breaks the scene entirely.

“Pent up, Buck?” Steve teases innocently, low voice hoarse, surprising himself as he coughs a little, clearing his throat before looking up with a mischievous, loving smile once again.

“You have no idea,” the dark class chuckles, now tracing two fingers against the younger male’s jawline, gathering his own release onto the metallic tips before urging them against his lover’s lips. Without so much as a hint of protest, Steve opens his mouth a little once more, greeting Bucky’s fingers with his tongue before sucking on the two digits eagerly. The demon’s sensors practically go wild as he feels that silky tongue twirling around his fingers until they become free of a bitterness that the blond willingly swallows.

The fiend pulls his fingers away with a wet _pop_ and a nothing but purely affectionate smile laced onto his own lips; dark wings lowering to rest more securely against his back and his cock reduced to a sticky, semi-erect state.

“Love you too,” the blond announces, seemingly out of the blue and taking the older male by surprise until he realises the cadet was merely replying to what the fiend had said in the haze of ecstasy. The demon was about to offer him a hand to aid Steve back onto his feet, when shy, anxious words broke through the space between them. “Was I okay?”

“Best I’ve ever had,” Bucky declares, not missing a single heartbeat, wanting to crush the smaller male’s anxieties before they had a chance to grow.

“But I’m the only one who-“ Steve pauses, his perplexed frown fading and his confusion dissipating when he sees that devilish smirk he’s come to love so desperately. “Jerk,” he retorts fondly, rolling his eyes before slowly beginning to push himself up to his feet. With a help of a hand clutching his upper arm, the blond is immediately being ushered against a broad chest, Bucky’s laughter echoing into his ears. And, honestly… Steve just can’t help it. Within a matter of seconds, he’s laughing along with his lover, their merriment singing throughout the forest. As if there wasn’t a fragment of worry on their minds.

Everything is… peaceful (if a bit sticky currently, though the blond finds himself lacking the ability to complain about it) and to the lovers it feels as if nothing could disturb this serenity they’ve made for themselves. Unfortunately, that just isn’t the case. And they’ll soon discover that something is very, very wrong.


	16. Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being so patient with me!! But here is the chapter at last, quite an important one too!  
> At the moment, my health has gotten worse, and university isn't helping matters. So as far as an update schedule goes... I'm saddened to say it's probably going to move permanently from the normal 2 week schedule to about every 3 weeks. It's not what I want, but unfortunately it's just more realistic. :(  
> But I hope you all continue to enjoy the story a lot, thank you for your support. The Demon Bond is so close to 2000 kudos, which I never thought possible. Just, wow, ahaha   
> Take care everyone <3 <3 <3

There’s something eerily beautiful about dusk settling over the land: how the pink-tinted sun slowly disappears beyond the snow-topped mountains in the far distance, making way for the shadows cast by the coloured moons that bathe the Netherworld in their beauty. It just makes Steve wonder… _what else is out there? Who?_ Such thoughts turn his mind into turmoil. Despite that, there’s nothing that makes him more content that laying amongst silky furs with a warm, muscular body against his own. Organic and metallic hand wrapped securely around his waist, slotting the bonded pair together as blond locks rest upon one sturdy shoulder.

Not a single sound except the soft huffs of their breaths echo through the cave, as if the world outside has been swept away by some great storm, leaving the lovers in silence. And yet, like the eye of a storm, there’s this sense of calm. A tranquillity the pair can bask in while they still can do just that. Because it truly won’t be long until their entire world changes: what they thought they knew… well, not everything is as it seems.

With a small hum, the younger male shifts a fraction against the demon, earning him a trail of fingers that sneak down the nodules of his spine, only to palm back up to between the juts of his shoulder blades. Needless to say, Steve was still a bit embarrassed at how only earlier he had to wash in the glistening pool to clear his skin of the sticky-whiteness his lover had marked him with. Still (though he wouldn’t admit this out loud) a significant part of him enjoyed it. A lot. More obviously than he would have liked, and the demon had no mercy to give him as he had cheekily pointed out that Steve had become very much hard himself from sucking on Bucky’s cock. The blond had only been a fragment mortified, and even with the fiend’s encouragement of wanting to return the favour, Steve had refused with a smile and a firm kiss upon the other’s lips. Because the blond is no fool: he _knew_ that as soon as Bucky would touch him, they would end up fucking by the waterfall. And guarantee it, they wouldn’t have returned to the cave until late the next morning.

Besides that, he had wanted that precious, sinful moment to be about Bucky, and only him. Despite his own cock that had begged differently in the confines of his underwear, feeling tormented when the blond had only playfully smacked the demon’s hand away when the fiend had attempted to touch him on their way back to the cave. The demon had pouted in response, but being so blissed out, he allowed Steve’s stubbornness to overrule his own.

Now that everything has died down into a sacred innocence, the younger man finds his mind wondering to other things that perhaps he should just let go of. But he can’t quite stop the thoughts that slither to the forefront of his conscience. Questions that weren’t answered earlier, because Steve had been too shaken, then rather _preoccupied_ to voice these swarming questions. But now that a certain demon was very much sated, Steve sought the opportunity while the fiend might be more willing to allow the blond to prod him with queries.

“Bucky?” Steve murmurs against the demon’s heated skin, before pushing his head up a little until he’s met with silver orbs looking right back at him.

“Hm?” The fiend hums, tone low and gruff with the beginnings of sleep. Tiny sparks of chaste pleasure tingle beneath his skin where the blond traces imaginary patterns over the demon’s heart. As strange as it may seem, the younger man can almost feel the strong _thud thud_ of a dark heart beating against white and red to be felt against the soft pads of his fingertips. “What is it?” He mumbles, eyelids heavy yet there’s a curiosity embedded within his gaze, peering through the lazy happiness he feels in this moment.

“Why did they die when they came here?” Steve questions, voice _timid_ and ever so quiet, as if he was afraid to know the answer after wondering for so many years… why no one ever returns once they step through a gateway into the demon realm. Shifting up a centimetre more across Bucky’s chest, his stare remains unyielding as he looks down at the fiend; a part of him desperate to _know_. His elbow digs into Bucky’s sternum ever so slightly, but all the fiend feels is the heavenly weight of his lover against him. “What is it about the Netherworld that is so deadly that no human nor piece of technology ever makes it back through?” It’s something that has puzzled mankind for centuries and has caused tales of what the demon realm must be like to be spun around like cobwebs. Feared, and yet the stories have become a part of human culture: of fiery depths and lava-dripping mountains, of _nothingness_ and shadows and sheer atoms of horror. The theories vary as much as the flowers on earth, but not one idea… no one ever thought the Netherworld would be so _beautiful._ Steve knows he’s surely only seen the tiniest fragment compared with the rest that he is yet to explore. But still, each day the blond finds undeniably breath-taking as the demon shows him something new. Something he never thought possible, creatures whose very existence boarders upon dream-like.

“It’s not necessarily this world…” Bucky hesitates, gaze seemingly flickering to the side in deep thought. As if trying to think up a way the complexity of the Netherworld might sense to his lover who peers up at him. Those blue eyes honestly more breath-taking than anything else within the realm; at least, that’s what the demon believes. “This place is heavily… oxygenated? I think that is what you call the gas humans needs to breathe. There is another component in the air that the human realm doesn’t have. An element not present in your own world, but that is not the reason why humans never return,” the fiend explains, dark brows furrowed in contemplation, metallic fingers continuing to trail up and down the nodules of the blond’s slender spine.

“Then what is the reason?” Steve urges, eyes widening with the knowledge he can practically reach out and touch. To know that he is breathing air that is unlike anything on earth is an almost overwhelming thought. It’s not necessarily a bad feeling, just an odd one. Anything that the cadet originally assumed fades away in an instant as he silently reprimands himself for believing something about what he cannot even see with his eyes. After all, why would the air be the same? Earth sustains life well, but the creatures who live here are anything but earthly.

“It’s the rift itself,” Bucky remarks plainly, an almost _foreboding_ layer to his tone as silver eyes level with intrigued ocean pools.

“The gateway?” The younger male repeats, immediately confused, because surely the portals are mere windows between the realms? Glass that has misted over, and yet there’s that gap one can slip through: gaps demons have utilised for centuries. But in that sense, just as demons can crawl through the window… why can’t anything else? What harm can a window do? Well, that’s debateable, but…

“Yes, the rift in itself isn’t just a _door…_ ” The demon’s wandering hand upon the younger male’s back pauses for a brief second, before continuing carving an invisible path between jutting shoulder blades, to the bump of the nape of Steve’s neck where golden strands tickle the pale skin there. “It is an entire room. Almost a world in its own right,” he reveals, for there truly isn’t any other way he could explain these rips between realms. Imagine it as one walking through a single door, only to find themselves in a corridor, and at the very end, is another door- unlocked and opened just slightly. Enough for one to slip through, but the corridor is full of something humans are forced to surrender to: as if humanity itself is not deemed worthy of the trek between worlds.

“Humans can’t survive going through it?” The blond supposes that’s why those soldiers looked so defeated even as they first stepped foot into this demonic world. How their bodies were already disintegrating from the inside before they had even taken their first breaths of the sweet air of the forest.

“The energy it gives off even makes my own kind confused.” It’s why each time, as a demon journeys through a gateway into a either realm, there’s this moment of haze that clouds their minds. It’s something that eases with age, and for more powerful fiends, it isn’t so much of a bother. But sometimes, it can be very disorientating. Like getting whipped up in a tornado, only to be harshly thrown to the earth. Enough to almost knock the wind out of you if one doesn’t know what to expect. “Human bodies just can’t seem to handle the forces that are present within the rift.” Bucky shrugs, jolting the cadet with the movement- not that the cadet minds at all, considering that he’s already moving up and down with each of the demon’s steady, deep breaths. “And so by the time they make it through into this realm, they are practically already dead.” His tone is spoken lightly, as if he weren’t talking about the reason for why hundreds of soldiers and civilians never come back through once they enter a gateway. The reason for their _deaths._ Because no one ever really thought that the very second one enters the rift, that they would soon be taking their last breaths. But become lost in the Netherworld; a realm overrun with demons and perhaps surely those devilish creatures are the ones to rip away the lives of those who wonder through into demonic lands? How very wrong they all were.

“And what about our technology?” Because man-crafted metal and the like aren’t exactly living beings that the rift could destroy. There is no life to take, just machine parts to frazzle.

“I don’t know, I don’t really understand your technology,” the dark class admits. Things in the Netherworld are… not simpler exactly, but complex in a different way. Instead of relying on technology, fiends have the power the courses through their veins, throbbing within each cell and leaking into their auras.

“I wonder if it’s merely because we lose signal because of the rift’s energy…” Steve ponders thoughtfully, lips pursing as if just laying across the demon’s chest might make the answers pop into his head as simple as that.

“Maybe,” Bucky murmurs, silver rings lingering on those plump lips ever so close to him. But it wasn’t a second later until blue eyes caught his doting stare, causing the cadet’s expression to instantly break out into a grin, cheeks flushing as he allows his forehead to drop onto the fiend’s shoulder. A huff of laughter escapes the demon’s chest as he heard these soft, embarrassed giggles against his skin. Bucky squeezes his lover closer until he could plant a sweet kiss upon blond locks, forcing those baby blues to peer up at the tender attention. “Usually when technology falls into this realm, it is burned out. Sparking and broken.” As if there wasn’t a single screw or welded lines holding them in place. “And even if it isn’t destroyed completely, usually one of my own kind will destroy it instead… or take it.” Demons are, undeniably, curious creatures like that. If they weren’t so deadly, one might think it a rather endearing quality. But it is a characteristic that they share with humanity itself. Though perhaps because of this it is only something that serves to make humans more wary of demons. More fearful of them: because what is more terrifying than something like yourself… but more powerful?

“Take it?” The blond echoes, wondering just what demons would even want with mere human technology. For surely it can’t be _that_ interesting to fiends? Then again, Steve supposes that there are very much demons in this realm that haven’t ever stepped foot inside the world of humans, and thus of course have never seen the wonders of man-made devices, working or not. Except from being inclined to bursts of violence, demons have also historically been known for their curiosity. So it is no wonder really that fiends might seek knowledge with the snippets of humanity that seep through past the rift.

“Some things we use in trades,” Bucky offers up his explanation with a slight nod, watching those enchanting lips brush apart with the sound of a soft, low voice that echoes against the demon’s chest.

“Trades?” Blue rings widen with intrigue, the very idea of demon’s having a system of _worth_ is… well, it makes the cadet wonder just how sophisticated these creatures of destruction and chaos actually are.

“You have money,” the fiend begins, stating mere facts and his tone matching this. Almost as if he were retelling some boring story, and yet the blond against him is hanging onto his every word. “However, we trade our possessions… souls included.”

“Trade things for what though? I don’t understand.” How can one put a price on the essence of human life? It’s a morbid thought for sure, and it just might become the younger male’s reality. After all, he’s in Bucky’s world now, and it’s time for him to truly immerse himself in demonic culture. For if Steve can’t fit in here... Then where does he belong? Oh, in Bucky’s arms, of course, how can he deny that? But he still can’t help but feel as if he isn’t… one with this realm. Regardless of his body being made by one of the most ancient beings of the realm.

“This world is more civilised than I think you realise, my little warrior,” the demon reprimands gently, even if a chuckle of amusement erupts from his chest. A sound that causes the other’s cheeks to blossom with embarrassment. “There is a system in place, even though there is chaos that has come with the disorder the Kyosw’s death has brought.” There are so few fiends who actually recall a time where there was a sort of… cloud of peace across the entirety of the realm. Many demons still live in fear; a fear that was once because of the threat of Schmidt’s very existence, and now is roused by the state of the unknown as creatures try to find their place now that the top, controlling predator is gone.

“You will have to show me,” Steve announces, sliding a bare leg over the fiend’s own until it slots neatly between the warmth of the other’s thighs and calves. Almost as if the blond was playing at some subtle dirty trick to get the dark class to agree with him.

“Show you?” The dark class repeats disapprovingly.

“More of your world,” Steve clarifies. “If you have the pendant… I could still hide and we could walk amongst your own kind. That way they won’t be able to tell that I’m-” The cadet doesn’t even get to finish what he was saying before he’s interrupted. Or more like _dismissed._ The fiend’s reply is simple, but there’s this rough tone to it of disgust and hate laced with the dire need to protect. A sensation that is stronger than ever considering what happened on those desert plains.

“I don’t want you near other demons.”

“What of the Empress?” The blond counters, because as far as he’s concerned, they need to speak with the Empress before they set out to pay the price she’s set them.

“She doesn’t count,” the dark class grumbles, almost like a child trying to prove themselves right.

“Because she’s your mother?” Steve cocks a teasing brow.

“Because I know that she won’t hurt you,” he remarks, before that gruff voice becomes far softer, as if speaking of something he’s not entirely used to. “I trust her…”

“We should go to her,” the younger male suggests within a heartbeat. They’ve put it off for far too long. Steve trusts Bucky for them to wait until he’s ready, but the longer they delay the journey, the longer it will be until they can resume some sort of tranquil life.

“I know…” The fiend mutters, looking up at the ceiling illuminated in a gentle purple hue being emitted from the several warm orbs dotted within the indents of the cave walls.

“Soon,” the blond presses stubbornly.

“Steve-“

“We _need_ to pay this debt; otherwise how can we live in peace?” Not knowing how else to convince the fiend now once more watching him, blue orbs stare back into those silver irises that seem to catch a slither of purple in their shine.

A swarm of apprehension washes through the demon’s mind: a well-placed reluctance to allow the cadet to throw himself into a mission once again. Bucky knows that for another to truly hurt the blond… it’s close to impossible now unless the dark class himself is slaughtered. Just the mere thought of Steve being harmed in any way, shape or form… it causes this tightening coil in the pit of his stomach, a sharp, burning heat in his gut and an ache in his heart. The fiend cannot possibly handle losing the younger male again, but more than anything, he wants Steve to be happy. Safe.

A deep sigh is exhaled through the demon’s nose as his stare returns to the natural roof above them, as if refusing to look at those enchanting lips as he himself gives in, not wanting to argue about such a topic… because he knows that Steve is right. Delaying the inevitable won’t end in anything good.

“Okay,” Bucky agrees at last.

“Okay?” Steve repeats, shuffling until his arms rest against the demon’s pectorals, elbows digging into solid ribs, causing a small _oof_ to resound from the fiend as blue eyes appear right above silver hues.

“We’ll leave in the morning,” he confirms, refusing to blink so that he can burn the utterly sweet smile spread across the younger male’s lips into the black film of his memory.

“Alright,” the blond chirps excitedly, giving a quick peck to the demon’s addictive lips. “I love you, Bucky.”

“I love you too.” The fiend grins brightly, wrapping his arms firmly around the younger male’s waist, keeping them pressed close… so that he might listen to the other’s instinctive breaths as they fall into slumber.

The blond lets out an agitated groan, eyelids screwed shut tightly as if in pain. For there’s no longer the warmth of a firm chest under his porcelain cheek, but something hot and itchy against his sensitive flesh. Like loose granules digging into him, enough that he’s sure his pale skin has become pink with tiny indents along the height of his cheekbones. Steve shifts a fraction where he lays, only to wince at the scratchy sensation of those scorching particles against his face and hands. With a whine, the blond finally takes notice of the red his eyes can see, as if a fierce sunlight were shining through them, much to his dismay. He didn’t feel warm though despite the heat beneath him. In fact, he feels rather… cold? As if someone had placed a dozen ice-cubes against the expanse of his back. Ah, but then a sudden thought hit him: if he’s not laying with his demon… then where is Bucky? If he isn’t within the security of the soft furs of their cave… where is he?

Baby blues flash open, only to grimace at the sudden light that threatens to blind him. Squinting, Steve places his palms beneath him, allowing himself to push his upper body up a little until he can look to the ground under him. Blond brows work themselves together, taking in the view of not the cave floor, but of miniscule, golden particles. _Sand._

Pushing himself up further, Steve glances around him in puzzlement, for he’s not met with the walls of the cave’s chamber, but a seemingly endless _desert._

Such a stark contrast to the rich forest he’s come to know and love, the younger man finds himself short of breath. A sensation of loneliness washes over him, because there is no sign of anyone else around, just the vast heat of the barren landscape. Steve parts his lips to shout out into the isolated wind tousling his hair, yet almost immediately, he feels his throat constrict and his mouth go dry, soft lips chapped and broken. Forcing himself up to his knees, the blond leans back against his heels, sandy fingers splayed across his thighs in support as he continues to look around at the open plains. There was no sign of the living, unless one counted the grains of sand moving every so often with the breeze a hint at this place containing life. It felt almost surreal… if also ever so familiar. Nostalgic, but not in any way that brings any sense of pleasantness. No, it has Steve’s heart going _thud thud thud thud_ so fiercely, that he feels as if it might burst out of his chest.

Everything feels wrong, and not just because he can’t sense wherever his demon might be. Surely he wouldn’t have gone far? At least the cadet prays that is the case as he tries to steady his uncertain breaths. He needs to find water before his lips become too raw to salvage. Though he wonders why he’s like this under the heat of the sun when…

Steve startles as he snaps his gaze up to the pristine blue sky. It wouldn’t have disturbed him if the sky above him were empty except for an orange sun… with no pink swirls embedded within like how Steve has come to know. There wasn’t even a single glimpse of any colourful moons either, as if they had disappeared within the blink of an eye. Perhaps for many such a fact wouldn’t disturb them, but for Steve, he realises all at once that he cannot possibly be in the Netherworld any longer. And all it takes is that mere worry to turn his mind into turmoil.

“Bucky?” He gasps, his croaky, distorted voice drowned out by the wind as his nails dig back into the sand once more to help him to his feet. Except that as soon as his gaze meets the granules digging into his palms, his erratic heartbeat practically stops. As if the red organ itself had become frozen. Quite honestly, Steve felt just as cold as if he had a blanket of snow wrapped around him, his innards blue with ice. The sense of loneliness and confusion that had plagued him is overwhelmed by sheer, shivering _dread._

Because what he sees looming across the ground beneath his hands and knees is something he never wanted to lay eyes on again… Something he didn’t think he would ever witness after all the bonded lovers have endured. The golden desert has morphed into something far more eerie, and if the cadet had anything in his stomach, he would have thrown up at the mere sight. For glaring right back up at him, were hardened round particles of shadowy sand. As black as death itself, when Steve had felt his own light fading away all those months ago. As his stare begins to wander back up, he sees the dark granules spreading out, infecting the heated, golden particles until there remains a metre of shadowed ground encircling his shivering form.

The sudden vibration of sand crunching under a heavy weight causes Steve’s attention to snap behind him, breath caught in the hopes that his lover has found him. But it is not his bonded demon he lays eyes upon, but a pair of fearsome irises that seem to pierce right through his chest, popping his lungs like meagre balloons, and crushing his heart like a python. A set of eyes he knows… but thought had been relinquished from the hardened life they held.

Steve had never felt so scared, for he knows, once again, he’s staring into the depths of death itself. A feeling he has only felt in fleeting moments in the past, but now it’s as if all those memories are flooding back to him at once as he stares at the being watching him with that menacing smirk. Skin such a shade of red, that one might think it bloody and burned; raw to the touch and it makes Steve’s own flesh _crawl_ beneath the surface. But meeting the stony gaze of the _Kyosw_ would do that to even the most bravest of warriors.

However, it’s the trickle of wetness against the blond’s stomach that causes him to break his stare in favour of turning blue eyes to his belly, where dark crimson bleeds from the torn surface. The material of his charcoal uniform ripped where there was once a shard of darkness that is quickly dissolving, allowing the cadet’s blood to spill onto the shadowy sand, just as that spike of death dissipates within his cells.

A strangled gasp echoes from the blond’s throat, his palms quickly covering the wound, only for pale fingers to become stained with the metal-tasting fluids he could feel at the back of his throat. Flooded with shock, Steve cannot yet feel the pain that is sure to quickly consume him, if he doesn’t die before that can happen.

No longer feeling a harshness against his spine, the younger male looks behind him, shoulders trembling with adrenaline, only for his lips to part in panic when he no longer lays eyes on Schmidt, but merely the bleak desert. Scanning the skyline, the blond’s neck releases its tension as he switches his gaze in front of him, only to find himself immediately seizing up as he’s met with those frozen orbs right in front of him. Not a sound leaves the cadet, too petrified to call out for help as he watches awfully thin, red lips contort with a smirk… only for the voice of death to ring in his ears in that demonic tongue: _you cannot escape me._


	17. A Haunting of Blood and Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! A week late, but here it is! :D
> 
> My health is being more of a bitch, so is university, amongst other things. So, realistically 16th-23rd April is likely going to be the time frame of the next update. I have started the next chapter though "A Promise of Kin." :)
> 
> Also, we’ve reached 2000 kudos on The Demon Bond. I just… it’s unimaginable to me when I didn’t think I would get close to 100 ahaha To know so many people are enjoying the universe makes me really happy, and makes soldiering through these rough times all the more worth it. And all of your comments are so sweet, and rest assured, I read every single one, despite my replies often being slow ahah I’ll do something to celebrate 2000 kudos once my health improves. :)
> 
> So, thank you all for your continued support <3

Metallic fingertips trail along the faint bumps of a thin spine, feeling the smooth skin and tiny pale hairs dashed across the surface. There’s something comforting to the feel as he lays back against the rich furs, a light, yet warm body aligned atop his own, soaking in his demonic warmth just as Bucky bathes in the amber glow of the younger male’s aura.

Bucky hadn’t slept for long until he found himself wide awake, the darkness of slumber seemingly so far away from his worried mind. He’s more than a little anxious of the journey they face, because although he knows that Steve is as protected from death as one can be, he is still haunted by the events that happened in the human realm. He cannot bear the pain of losing Steve again: it would be too much for him to take. The blond is the only being in either realm that is keeping him together. Stopping him from giving up on life itself. Because what is there left for him to live for, if he can no longer rain his affections down on the other, and in turn, receive such foreign love back? There is no other purpose left for him to fulfil. Just a promise to protect his lover and remain beside each other for as long as fate will allow. Bucky only hopes that it will be an eternity.

The fiend ponders on what the younger male might think of the Empress, someone who Bucky has reluctantly come to trust. Afterall, she is the reason why Steve’s golden soul isn’t a mere orb tied the demon’s core, and nothing more. But it’s not as if the Empress will be the only demon that the blond will meet. There are many places the bonded pair must travel through to reach the Empress. Of course, they could take some less than direct routes, but Bucky promised the cadet to show him more of his realm, and he intends to keep that promise. Even if walking into a region filled with demons doesn’t exactly settle well with the dark class. But it’s not as if the blond is truly human anymore: his body is made from a demon, formed from a demonic realm. The only thing vaguely human about the cadet, is the vibrancy of his soul. But other than that… the blond no longer even requires sleep- instead it is something that has become a habit for the younger male. A way for his mind to process through the information of the day without becoming overloaded. It’s certainly been a lot for Steve to take in, but fortunately, Bucky is willing to walk the path of uncertainty with him, for it is one he has walked before.

Besides, their greatest enemy has been defeated, even if that fact seems like a dream to themselves. Bucky is one of the most powerful fiends in the entire realm, second only to the Empress herself now that Schmidt is no longer a terror across the lands. So, to think that something could tear them apart now… the possibility seems unlikely, but is it truly? Bucky is no seer, he cannot predict the future. He just hopes that in the end, whenever he takes his final breath, it will be with his lover at his side, whispering softly to him of the devotion they share for each other.

_“Bucky,”_ a murmured groan drums against the demon’s chest, forcing the attention of silver eyes down to blond locks tickling his bare skin. The fiend hums soothingly in response, allowing the vibrations to seep into the smaller form draped over him. But blue eyes refuse to reveal themselves, too caught up in some sort of slumber to respond to metallic fingers curling against the faint bumps of a slim spine.

Once again, a distorted groan felt against his chest has the dark class letting out a low chuckle, awkwardly leaning in to kiss golden locks, before laying his head back against the rich furs beneath them. Though it’s not a moment later than a soft gasp leaves plush lips, forcing a warm breath to flutter across the demon’s skin. It would have brought a smile to the corner of Bucky’s mouth, if the noise didn’t sound so _pained._ As if his lover was struggling to fill his lungs with precious air.

Dark brows draw tightly together in concern, feeling their bond tug with the beginnings of distress. As if someone had taken hold of one of Bucky’s ribs, and was trying to dislodge it with harsh, prolonged jolts- that pressure not quite relieving as the blond shifts ever so slightly against him.

“Steve, my love,” the dark class coos, securing his arms around the other further, hoping that the momentarily tighter hold might awaken the other from the thoughts that trouble him. “Wake up, my little warrior, it’s just a dream,” Bucky urges a little louder, only to let out a frustrated sigh of his own when all he gets is a whimper in reply. A sound that shatters the demon’s heart as he leans up a little, his lover cradled against him as he tries to sneak into the cadet’s mind- to manipulate whatever horror his mind is creating, and yet to the dark class, it feels as if he’s banging his head against a metal wall. As if the blond’s dreams are completely closed off to him.

It is… a sensation that admittedly doesn’t settle well with the fiend. In fact, it only serves to worry him further as he shakes the younger male’s shoulder in a feeble attempt to rouse him from the depths of his sleep.

“Steve,” the demon calls again, nuzzling against silky strands, only to feel the other flinch away at the touch, as if the younger male didn’t register that the one holding him so tenderly, is his bonded lover. _“Steve,”_ Bucky tries a final time, voice a touch harsher, and laced with unease. But it’s enough to tug the blond forth from his nightmare, as the cadet lets out a strangled cry as he awakens, bolting upright on instinct. The action so violent, he practically slaps the demon’s firm chest in the process as the smaller males falls out of Bucky’s arms onto the furs with his surprise.

Plump lips are parted with panting breaths, uncertainty and fear keeping blue orbs wide as goose bumps roughen the cadet’s paled skin. Gazing into those two ocean pools, it’s as if the cadet is trying to figure out his surroundings… as if he couldn’t quite believe that the eyes staring back at him belong to his bonded demon. That the only thing around him are the walls of their little cave, the luxurious furs rubbing against their legs and the peaceful glow of purple fires that bring light to a chamber that would otherwise be drowning in darkness.

The demon frowns as blue irises cast down to his exposed stomach, as if the plain, smooth skin found there was a mystery to him. Perhaps the cadet was expecting something else entirely as his gaze lingers in profound confusion. Ever so carefully settling up onto his knees, the dark class watches the other cautiously, paying close attention to the way their bond pulses almost erratically.

“Steve?” The fiend beckons, worry laced into his stilled breaths as he observes those sapphires finally peering back up at him, a sense of comfort laced within the swirls of his irises.

“Bucky?” The blond whispers, tone shaky as if he couldn’t quite believe that Bucky is truly here. In fact, he seems… _relieved?_ The sight of dozens of sleek feathers invading his vision, skimming against his calves as the dark class leans forward.

“What’s wrong?” He questions, disturbed by the younger male’s behaviour as silver eyes watch that slender chest rise and fall abruptly even now with frightened, instinctive breaths.

“I-“ Steve can barely get the simple word out before his voice is cracking, irises shining with the beginnings of tears that threaten to swarm the sight before him.

“Come here,” the fiend invites ever so softly, opening up his arms for the blond to perhaps find a strength within them. And Steve can only be grateful for the gesture and he pushes himself back up within an instant, colliding into the muscular valleys of the demon’s chest and flattening his palms against the sheer warmth he’s met with as those arms secure around him. “Wanna tell me about it?” He queries hesitantly, his heart sinking in his chest when he hears the blond sniffle in an attempt to hold back his cries. “It’s alright.” The fiend comforts, nuzzling against golden locks as dark wings encase the younger male.

“I… I died…” Steve confesses, his fearful words muffled from his face being insistently pressed against his lover’s chest, wetting the surface with salty droplets. Something about his dream had felt so _real._ He couldn’t quite shake the feeling that it really was Schmidt talking to him, despite knowing that such a thing is impossible.

“Oh, Steve,” the demon sighs, his embrace tightening around his lover, as if such a touch might protect him from his nightmares. A reconstructed memory posed as a dream… “Shh,” he soothes, pressing these little kisses to the younger male’s temple to ward of the remnants of his terrorised thoughts. “You want to talk about it?” Bucky offers, coarse feathers tickling against the other’s spine, triggering tiny shivers to jolt the cadet’s body.

“It wasn’t you?” The blond mutters, twisting a little in the tight hold to look up at those two silver moons watching him like a hawk.

“Hm?” The fiend cocks his head to the side with intrigue as he tries to work out what his lover meant by the puzzled statement.

“It wasn’t your dream?” The cadet can almost feel the dread wash over him all at once like a corrupted damn bursting. Because for some reason, the thought of having a terrifying dream that doesn’t originate from his lover, but his own subconscious… that is far more perturbing to him. And so, he hopes, no, _prays,_ that his own mind hasn’t become tormented with tainted memories. Undeniably, it would mean that it was Steve’s own mind that conjured up the nightmare: a memory so vivid, and yet terrifyingly different. With this, he’s almost certain that they would end up becoming a part of some conscious vision to torture him. For even now with his eyes open and his gaze overwhelmed by a gentle expression and vibrant rings of silver… he can still picture _red._

“I’ve been awake for a while, Steve…” Bucky unwillingly confesses. At least if it had been his own dreams escaping into the younger man’s mind, he could have stopped them somehow. But he had been as far from sleep as one could be, and Steve’s mind had been… seemingly locked away from him. It’s a fact that doesn’t settle well with the dark class.

 “I… I couldn’t stop the bleeding,” he blurts out, the purple light of the fires catching the fine pearls of wet salt that drip from the corners of glistening blue orbs.

“Shh,” Bucky hushes as he hears the other’s breath catch in his throat, the beginning of calmed sobs working their way to the surface in tiny jolts. “It’s alright, you’re okay.” Metallic fingers find their way into golden locks, carding through them over and over as the smaller man seeks refuge in the demon’s protective embrace.

“And the-the death class was there,” the blond cries out insistently. “He was there, Bucky!”

“The Kyosw?”

Steve nods against the demon’s chest, pinkened cheeks hidden in the shadows cast by Bucky’s velvet wings brushing against him. Perhaps some wouldn’t like this feeling of being enclosed. Trapped, almost. But knowing that the tightness around him is only his lover’s arms… it is a comforting sensation. As if fierce shields had been placed around him, where death cannot reach his heart.

“He said that…” Steve’s words trail off, as if he cannot bear to remember what that cold voice had spoken inches from his ears. But even now, he can still hear is like some sort of alarm, raging on and on with no end in sight. He only doesn’t cower further because of the comforting trace of shadowy wings encasing him like some protective bubble, and the lips that caress his cheeks.

“What?” The fiend urges, voice far lighter than usual, as one might talk to a child upset with fear. “What did he say?”

“Ah, it doesn’t matter, does it?” The blond sniffles stubbornly, taking a deep, trembling breath to calm himself. Not that it works even a little bit, but fortunately for him, strong arms tighten their hold, keeping him close to the warmth he loves.

“It does if it’s bothering you, my little warrior,” he insists. A part of the demon is curious as to what exactly the dream  - ah, perhaps nightmare is the more accurate term – was about. It had the Kyosw in, but what exactly happened? The fiend has a terrible feeling that the blond may never tell him.

“But it wasn’t _real,_ just my mind running wild,” the younger male sighs, disheartened as the cherry-pink of his cheek rubs against the demon’s chest.

“Tell me, you don’t have to carry the weight of your burdens alone, even imaginary ones.” For the dark class knows what it is to bear them alone, and it is something painful. Something he doesn’t wish for his lover. Regardless of whether the blond may see his worries as real, or merely a product of his anxieties.

Steve laughs at the demon’s comment, if a little sadly, but Bucky is glad to have soothed him anyway. Even if all he gets is a bittersweet melody in return, it’s a start to eventually erasing the nightmare from the cadet’s wary mind. But just as quickly as the laugh had erupted, the small smile falls from those pink lips as a frown forms between lines of golden brows.

“He said that I can never escape him,” he reveals suddenly, blue rings looking down at his demon’s marred form. At a tiny scar that roughens pectoral skin just an inch from his hand still soaking up Bucky’s heat.

“He’s not alive any longer, he can’t come between us, nor can he torment us,” Bucky assures him, or at least tries to. Although it is true that the death class is not alive, he still clearly has some sort of influence over them. Of memories that refuse to ease and become one with the past. Like waves bringing up old curiosities onto the shore; such objects broken and damaged. Some able to be mended, others not.

“I know that,” Steve huffs, before his index finger begins drawing unseen designs upon the other’s chest in thought. Or perhaps… in distraction. “I guess I just find myself still worrying.”

“It’s okay to do that… but know that your fears are unfounded, yeah?” The fiend hums, his lips skimming across golden locks to pale skin, before venturing to warm cheeks in encouragement. Not that Steve needs any urging to lift his head a little to meet the demon with a pure kiss.

“Yeah,” the blond agrees quietly, as if the fight had long since left him as he finds himself nuzzling into his demon’s touch, pressing further and further into his heat as if he might meld entirely with the demon that way. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me, Steve.” An affectionate chuckle emits from the demon’s throat, breathing in the still-sweet scent of the other as his hands sooth away the goose-bumps that had roughed his lover’s silky skin.

“I know,” vibrates a mumbled voice against the fiend’s collarbone.

“Hmm,” Bucky hums, not in thought, but merely in bliss as he revels in the smooth skin tucked into his arms, and the bond that has become a mellow throb between them. “Come here,” he beckons without need as he shifts his legs, keeping the other within his embrace as the demon ever so carefully lays them back down upon the thick, exotic furs. The younger male slumps against the demon’s larger form, a tiny shiver coursing through his spine as he feels a feather catch his inner thigh. Once settled, blue eyes drift up to find silvery moons staring right back at him expectantly. Bucky didn’t have to ask, for the cadet knew exactly what he yearns for. After all, he seeks the same thing.

Leaning up a mere fraction, Steve aligns his lips with the demon’s, capturing them in an innocent show of deep affection, before he settles back down once again. Not that either of them even think of falling back into the realm of dreams again. But nor do either of them choose to speak into the silence that cloaks them… rather, they remain within their thoughts of the journey to come, and of the warmth and love the other provides.

“So, she lives just beyond the mountains?” Steve calls out to the demon’s feathered stream that brushes against the undergrowth of the vibrant forest.

The bonded pair had set out early that morning, though the dark class had needed some encouragement. But after a few heavy, doting kisses, the two had become more than just wide awake for their journey. However, a certain dark-winged being desired something more than subtly heated kisses, and yet all he got when his palm slipped down to Steve’s ass, was a soft moan… only for the cadet to push him away with a glare that accompanied the demon being reprimanded for his inappropriate timing. Bucky himself thought the timing was rather perfect, but Steve had been adamant about getting a move on, and the demon really couldn’t delay them any longer than he has done. If they don’t seek the Empress soon, she’ll undeniably find them. And Bucky rather this all be on his terms. After last night… the dark class needs to feel as if he has control over _something,_ and he’s sure that Steve feels the same. Bucky doesn’t know why the younger man had such a dream, but they can only move forward and put it behind them. They have each other, and surely now, that’s all that truly matters?

“No, within,” the fiend corrects, glancing over his shoulder to find the blond still hot on his trail like some keen puppy eager for adventure. Those golden locks are certainly soft to the touch, and Bucky would give anything for them just to pause, settle down beside one another upon a mossy patch and then card his fingers through his lover’s hair, and down the nodules of that sensitive spine.

“Like at the top?” He questions thoughtfully, imagining some extravagant castle nestled at the very peak of the tallest mountain. What a sight that would be under the gleaming sun shimmering over the soft stone.

“No.”

“Well, like, in a cave, then?” Steve retorts when he perceives the demon’s amused chuckles.

“I suppose.” Bucky shrugs, silver rings scanning across the area just as unseen shadows crawl across the forest floor, spiralling up the trees in search of anything or anyone that may disturb their solitude. Not that the demon expects unwanted company within this glowing forest, for he doubts any of the creatures Steve had met at the lake would risk coming for them. If there are any left in this area after... whatever had happened to result in their slaughter. “Bigger than the one we’ve stayed in.”

“More ornate than furs?” Steve jests.

“I think you will find it beautiful,” the fiend hums, recalling the memory of when Bucky had first taken Steve’s soul to the Empress. How he had spent his constantly waking moments within that lair, basking in its enchanting appearance as he awaited to be able to hold his lover in his arms once again.

“Why’s that?” The smaller male quickens his steps, almost stumbling over curving roots in the process and he caught up to the demon’s larger strides. “I’m struggling to imagine what this place looks like,” he admits, stretching out one arm to push the demon’s wing to the side just enough for him to slip by and begin walking right beside the taller male. He doesn’t say anything when Bucky slows his movements a mere fraction, allowing the small smile on his lips to express his thanks.

“You’ll see it soon enough,” he replies teasingly, effectively dodging the question much to the younger man’s dismay.

“And she lives alone?” The cadet questions, unphased by the lack of answers. After so many years together, he’s gotten used to them. And besides, he knows that Bucky will reveal more to him with time. He understands that the dark class merely wants this to be a surprise, though the blond can’t imagine why.

“…Yes”

The hesitancy causes blue eyes to perk up in interest, disbelief and disapproval apparent in his tone.

“You don’t sound convincing.”

“Young demons are there.” Bucky pauses, those dark brows furrowed as if trying to think of words that the cadet might understand. For the ways of the Netherworld are vastly different to that of the human realm. “Unborn ones, in a sense,” he then adds.

“Unborn?” Steve repeats, not quite able to fathom quite what the other’s statement denotes. “What do you mean?”

“I… don’t know how to explain it.”

“They’re in eggs?” The blond offers, admittedly a touch amused by the mere idea of powerful demons nestled safely inside white shells the size of chicken eggs.

“No, that’s not what they are,” Bucky grumbles perhaps a tad too defensively. “They are more akin to large, crystal cases of energy: some dark, some light.”

“So you started off in one of these weird eggs then?” Steve mocks, wholly teasing as if to get his own back on the fiend.

The dark class sends him an entirely unamused glare, those thin lips pressed tight together with those brows cast down closer to silver rings that glisten with sheer, undying affection. And seeing that emotion embedded within those two moons, despite the expression upon the fiend’s handsome features, Steve can only give him a cheeky smirk in response.

“Every light and dark _class_ as you call us, begin as a mass of energy. For a while, we remain in these… cases…” The demon begins his explanation, otherwise he fears his lover might only tease him about the matter further. Not that he truly minds, but he knows the blond seeks knowledge, and they have quite the walk ahead of them. “Actually, it was one of the cases that the Empress grew your new body in.”

“Oh? I guess I never really thought about how this form came to be. But I suppose I, uh, it, couldn’t have just suddenly appeared out of nowhere.” Blue eyes drop down immediately, that cocky smile fading away as he’s forced to confront knowledge that he’s been honestly trying to ignore. For it just feels so _strange._ Like he’s not entirely himself anymore.

“No. It took… a long time, for your body to be ready,” Bucky sighs mournfully, as if the wait had been the longest pain he’s endured without relief.

“But you waited for me,” he whispers, nudging his side against metallic plates, earning himself the caress of sleek feathers sliding along his clothed spine until they seem to halt their exploration along his arm. At the coarse, velvety feel against his skin, just below where the dark fabric of short sleeve ends, the cadet feels these tiny goose bumps erupt. As if his body cannot help but react to the fiend at every opportunity, as if he’s _weak_ to the darkness itself. And quite honestly… he loves it.

“Of course.” Bucky couldn’t have thought of anything else but wait for his lover to return to him. Even if it meant torturing himself with thoughts of the past- wondering if he could have saved Steve from death, but knowing deep down that he alone wouldn’t have been strong enough.

“You always have done,” the blond notes softly, his fingertips brushing against the demon’s, until that metallic palm suddenly ever so gently clasps his own. Instantly, their bond seems to drum happily between them, their shared energy brimming between them like the cascade of a waterfall hitting the rocks beneath, and it can be felt just as passionately.

“Yes.” Longer than Steve realises. Though perhaps not as long as the journey ahead of them will be. And if they believe that the journey thus far has been full of bumps and unexpected turns in the road… then they truly would not be able to grasp what will come next. “And I always will do.”

**Author's Note:**

> ♥ Thank you for reading! ♥  
> If you spot any grammar or spelling errors please let me know!
> 
> Date of Next Update: Major delay!! (Will post as soon as it's finished being written.)  
> Next Chapter Title (18): "A Promise of Kin"  
> Currently Working on Chapter 18: "A Promise of Kin"  
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